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Drunk drivers may face even tougher penalties

State lawmakers poised to try again to get laws passed

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Gov. Mark Sanford's call this week for tougher laws against drunken driving is welcome news, but it is a familiar refrain in Columbia.

Lawmakers for years have called for stiffer laws, but we keep coming up short. A few years ago, we passed with great hoopla the "illegal per se" law that states it is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more. But critics today say it is rarely enforced because it has so many loopholes.

South Carolina is the only state that requires warnings against self-incrimination before physical sobriety tests.

In 2005, there were 359 drunken driving fatalities in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Public Safety. For all our sakes, lawmakers need to keep trying.

On Tuesday, Sanford endorsed a proposal to tie penalties to blood-alcohol levels -- the higher the blood-alcohol content, the stiffer the punishment. This "tiered" penalty system is expected to be in a bill to be considered next legislative session.

Under a similar bill introduced in 2005, you would be guilty of driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration if you have an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 percent but less than 0.10 percent.

Maximum penalties would range from 30 days in jail for a first offense to five years in prison for fourth and subsequent offenses, plus fines. The bill also called for mandatory counseling and public service and required prison sentences for those convicted of three or more drunk-driving offenses.

Lawmakers also need to fix problems with existing laws that require ignition interlock devices to be installed in offenders' vehicles to prevent them from driving drunk and require license plates and vehicle registrations to be seized from repeat offenders.

Whatever methods lawmakers come up with need to do a better job of keeping repeat offenders off our roads. No matter how strict the law on the books, it matters little if plea agreements allow people who drive impaired to keep driving.

That's what an investigation by The State newspaper found is happening. The newspaper's analysis found that about 40 percent of all drunken driving sentences for repeat offenders involved reduced pleas. For third and subsequent offenders, the plea rate was about 60 percent.

The paradox is illustrated best by the reaction of a defense attorney to the tiered punishment proposal touted Tuesday.

"It's 180 degrees wrong," DUI defense lawyer Ronnie Cole of Anderson told The State. "The tougher the laws, the more you're going to hire us."

He's probably right, which suggests mandatory sentencing and a beefed up court system to handle more drunken driving cases may be the answer.