State Sen. Michael Young is teaming up with state Representative Mark Kruzan to push a bill through the Indiana General Assembly that would tighten the laws for drinking and driving. This bill is a good idea. With the proposed plan, it would become a Class D felony if you were caught driving under the influence of alcohol with someone under the age of 18 in your car. You would lose your license permanently if convicted of causing a death while over the legal limit or for a third offense. Probationary licenses would not be granted if a driver is convicted of driving under the influence a second time or if the offender is operating the vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .15 or higher. These are ideas that will help reduce the senseless deaths and give people a reason not to drive while intoxicated. Losing a driver's license permanently would alter a person's lifestyle. But, this is an alternative which goes to someone who has not learned the lesson twice before. By the time someone has been caught driving under the influence for a third time it should be considered a blessing that nobody has been killed. In 2000, 40 percent of the year's total traffic deaths were alcohol-related -- that was 16,653 people. In 1996, 21 percent of the 2,761 traffic fatalities among children under 15 years involved alcohol, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Everyone makes mistakes. But when you make a mistake you should learn from it and be able to deal with the consequences as well. One-third of all people arrested for driving under the influence are repeat offenders. These people are repeat offenders because the consequences of their first offense are not strict enough. By strengthening the laws on repeat offenders, many drinking and driving offenses can be eliminated. Taking someone's life away because you were driving under the influence is something that needs to be dealt with aggressively. This is an offense so negligent that it should be considered murder. Driving under the influence is not only ignorant, but doubly so with someone under 18 in the passenger seat. One is not only endangering the life of pedestrians and other drivers, but the safety of a younger friend or family member who is unlikely to have control over the situation. It is inappropriate to drink and drive, but when your actions affect young people they should be prosecuted to a higher degree. Making the offense a Class D felony should strengthen the message that young people need to be taken care of and their lives should not be put at risk. Ideally, stricter laws on drinking and driving should stop people from operating a vehicle while intoxicated. While this bill will not put an end to the problem, it could be a step in the right direction.
yes - no - abstain
