This year, Wyoming’s State Legislature is taking another shot at toughening the state’s driving under the influence (DUI) laws. Last year the legislature balked at DUI reforms, although it passed a bill requiring ignition interlock devices in repeat offenders’ vehicles, which test a driver’s blood alcohol content before allowing a vehicle to start.
Derek Farr of the Sublette Examiner writes that even with those changes, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) ranks Wyoming third to last among 50 states and the District of Columbia in its 2009 progress report. According to that report, 42 percent of the state’s driving deaths involved a drunk driver.
Sublette County Treatment Court Coordinator Kathy Anderson is waiting until the end of January to compile the latest round of local data. Those figures should indicate whether the area’s slowing gas exploration has led to fewer DUI arrests.
“My gut reaction is (the number of arrests) is pretty much the same,” she explained. “But until I look at the data, I don’t know.”
Even if the numbers show a reduction in DUI, Anderson strongly believes driving under the influence is a serious problem that endangers the entire community.
“It’s one of the most serious things a person can do to interfere with another person’s rights,” she said.
Two DUI reform bills are expected in this year’s budget session, which opens Feb. 8.
The first bill, Senate File 0019, sponsored by Sen. Tony Ross (R-Cheyenne), increases the period of enhanced penalties from five to 10 years, doubling the time a driver could accumulate four DUIs, which then makes each successive DUI a felony.
Ross’ bill would also designate a person as too drunk to drive if his blood-alcohol test was conducted within two hours of the arrest. Current law allows a defense attorney to argue a driver’s blood-alcohol level rose to criminal levels only after the arrest.
In the House, Rep. Keith Gingery (R-Jackson) will introduce a DUI bill that he says will strengthen existing laws. “We already have DUI laws,” he explained. “What we need to do is close loopholes.”
Gingery wants to criminalize refusing blood or breath test. While only 25 percent of first-time DUI suspects refuse the test, Gingery said that number grows to 75 percent on second DUI arrests. He explained that drunk drivers learn they can escape criminal blemishes on their record by refusing the tests and accepting a temporary loss of their driver’s license.
He also wants to add harsher penalties for drivers with a BAC of 0.15 or higher. Wyoming is one of 11 states that do not have enhanced laws for high BACs.
A report last summer showed the average blood alcohol level of a DUI arrest in Wyoming is 0.155—almost twice the legal limit.
During last year’s legislative session, a bill that would have dramatically increased penalties for DUI died in the Transpiration Committee, which was chaired by Sen. Ross, the same senator sponsoring this year’s DUI bill.
At the Sublette County Treatment Court, Anderson supports the principles of Ross and Gingery’s bills and she is encouraged by the prospect of strict reforms.
But on a personal level, Anderson believes a driver’s third DUI should automatically become a felony. And she does not feel a period of enhanced sentences should be limited at all. Although some people believe it’s unfair for a person’s past DUIs to haunt him or her for life, Anderson disagrees.
“I don’t think ‘fair’ plays any part of it,” she said. “It’s a tremendous lack of judgment and decision making if you put yourself into that position.”
Yet this state has been among the most reluctant to toughen its laws. Anderson says it’s not easy passing tougher DUI laws, explaining, “The wide-open roads, sparse populations, and traditional values of the area tend to argue against it.”
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