Senate bill on increased penalties for DUI offenders

2/29/08 - Senate bill on increased penalties for DUI offenders 18 and under moves to full Senate for vote. Bill to require interlock devices for a first offense drunk driving conviction delayed in committee
Update: Is this bill dead?. Details here.

Update2: No, it was revived and made it out of the Senate committee to go to the full Senate for a vote and passage.

More on the proposed DUI legislation

2/27/08 - More on the proposed DUI legislation: The bill currently being worked on in the Virginia Senate would increase penalties for teenagers who are convicted of drunk driving. If a driver is 16, 17, or 18, they would automatically lose their driver's license for one year.

2/14/08 - Update: The first offense DUI interlock law has passed the Virginia House of Delegates, and goes on to the Senate in the Virginia General Assembly. If it passes the Senate, it will become law.

The vote total was 80-18 in the house. In opposition, Delegate Ken Melvin of Portsmouth is quoted saying most people who get a DUI never get a second DUI offense, and this bill is the equivalent of "using a hammer to kill a fly."

2/10/08 - A Virginia state lawmaker is proposing a law to make anyone convicted of a single DUI/drunk driving charge install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle as a condition of license reinstatement. Under current Virginia DUI laws, An ignition interlock device is only required in cases where the person blew over a .15 BAC on a breathalyzer, or almost twice the legal limit.

We believe this is a terrible idea. It is absolutely unfair to saddle someone who could even have been under the legal limit with this burden. Or if you made a one time mistake, you have to pay for it with something that could affect your job.

Even more important, there is absolutely no credible evidence that an ignition interlock device does anything to prevent drunk driving in people who are not chronic alcoholics or multiple offenders.

More on Virginia ignition interlock devices here.