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New DWI law is important step in saving lives
The just-completed session of the N.C. General Assembly has been called one of the most successful in recent years.
Teachers and state employees received significant pay raises, and an ethics reform package passed in the final days of the session.
To us, one of the most important pieces of legislation was a toughening of driving while impaired laws. And we’re proud that Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe had a hand in formulating the law through his service on Gov. Mike Easley’s Driving While Impaired Task Force.
Whether someone drinks alcohol is an individual matter. However, when a person drinks and gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, it becomes everyone’s business. That message got through to legislators as only one voted against the measure.
Ashe said the Task Force worked for nearly a year coming up with ideas for Easley to review and submit to the Legislature.
“I believe we did a great job in coming up with the ideas,” Ashe said. “I feel really good about being part of that.”
Under the revised law, prosecutors and judges around the state will now be required to handle drunken driving charges in the same manner. Blowing .08 on a Breathalyzer should bring more findings of guilty. Reaching .08 has been the threshold for a DWI conviction for several years. However, many judges were giving more leeway to defendants who did not have a higher blood-alcohol content, and the conviction rate varied widely by judicial districts.
A fatality or serious injury is just as tragic whether it occurs in the mountains, piedmont or coast. Drunk drivers should not be let off easily regardless of where they live.
While it has long been illegal for persons under 21 to possess alcoholic beverages, the tougher law closes a loophole by making it illegal for those under 21 to drink alcohol as well. Convictions may now be obtained whether or not witnesses actually see the person with an alcoholic beverage in his possession. Hopefully, this will be a step in cutting down on underage drinking.
Along that same line, a system has been created to track those who purchase kegs of beer so they can be held liable in the event of death or injury caused by an impaired driver following a gathering where the keg was served.
Some businesses have complained about the increased paperwork of that measure, but it’s a small price to pay if the crack down saves lives.
North Carolina has long been known as a leader in tough DWI laws, and we want to keep it that way.
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