COLUMBIA, S.C. - Prosecutor Trey Gowdy wants to change the state's drunken driving laws so punishments increase depending on how much the driver had to drink.

"There is a difference between driving after a beer too much and a case of beer too much, but the penalties are the same," said Gowdy, chief prosecutor for Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.

Gowdy said at a news conference in Spartanburg on Monday he has the support of House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, who plans to introduce legislation similar to Gowdy's proposal.

South Carolina had the second-highest rate of people killed by drunken drivers in the nation in 2002 and the most rapid increase in drunken driving deaths over the past four years, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Gowdy's proposal would keep the current penalties for drivers whose blood-alcohol content ranges from he current legal limit of 0.08 percent to 0.12 percent, but sentences would become more severe as blood-alcohol levels increase.

For example, someone convicted of DUI first offense faces two days to 30 days in jail. Gowdy's proposal would increase that range to seven days to 120 days for someone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent to 0.18 percent and 30 days to one year in jail for anyone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent or more.

The idea came after a review of fatal DUI wrecks showed the vast majority of them in Gowdy's circuit involved drivers whose blood-alcohol level tested 0.13 percent or more, the prosecutor said.

"With drug crimes and financial crimes, the amount of drugs or money involved directly impacts the sentence the offender receives," Gowdy said. "So, too, in driving cases, the level of impairment should be taken into account."

Gowdy said his proposal doesn't take sentencing out of the judge's discretion any more than other laws like the one that sets a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison for murder.

Also, it might help bring attention to the problem heavily impaired drivers cause on the state's roads. An assistant prosecutor who mostly handles DUI cases told Gowdy that judges rarely ask a driver's blood-alcohol level at sentencing hearings.

Gowdy was joined Monday by Regina Crane, who was seriously injured by a drunken driver in a wreck this past June.

"Innocent people are being killed and hurt every day by drunk drivers," Crane said. "Some of this can be stopped by new laws that would put these offenders behind bars before they hurt or kill someone."

The only criticism Gowdy said he has heard so far has come from people who say everyone is affected in various ways by alcohol.

"I realize alcohol affects different people differently," Gowdy said. "But it doesn't make anybody a better driver."