How to curb DUIs

South Carolina law-enforcers are always looking for ways to get tougher on drunken drivers - and for good reason. The state has the second-highest rate of fatal driving-under-the-influence accidents in the nation, and the number is continuing to rise, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.

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The latest anti-DUI plan is being put forth by Trey Gowdy, chief prosecutor for Spartanburg and Cherokee counties. He wants to change the state's drunken-driving laws so punishments increase according to how much the driver had to drink.

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

The idea came to the prosecutor after a review of fatal DUI wrecks in his circuit showed the vast majority were caused by drivers with blood-alcohol levels of 0.13 percent or more. His proposal would keep the current penalties for drivers whose blood-alcohol content ranges from the legal limit of 0.08 percent to 0.12 percent, but sentences would get harsher as the levels increase.

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

Gowdy's plan, which has not drawn any significant opposition, should have a good shot at becoming law.

A better way to cut back on drunken driving, though, would be for South Carolina to get rid of its archaic and ridiculous law that requires bars and restaurants to serve hard liquor out of 1.7-ounce mini-bottles - the kind used on commercial airline flights. These drinks are considerably stronger than freehand drinks served in Georgia and other states.

In a politics-makes-strange-bedfellows alliance, the state's hospitality industry - including restaurateurs and tavern owners - has joined with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in urging repeal of the mini-bottle law.

It's not an easy task, because somehow the law got written into the state's constitution so only the voters can get rid of it. But first, lawmakers have to write the repeal referendum, and then if voters OK it, new legislation will have to be written to allow free-hand drinks.

It's a torturous process; however, last year, repeal was on a fast-track toward a ballot resolution until budget quarreling and filibustering derailed it. The good news is there's still plenty of time left in this session to get the issue on the ballot for November.

If voters repeal the mini-bottle law and lawmakers approve Gowdy's plan, the chances are excellent that South Carolina's DUI tragedies will start to go down.

--From the Wednesday, February 18, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle