Do more to prevent DUI

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums

lawmakers to continue efforts to

prevent drunken-driving fatalities.

Aheartbreaking tragedy that claimed the lives of two teens and the mother of one of the teens recently resulted in a 15-year sentence for an Easley man who pleaded guilty to felony DUI. It was an appropriately tough sentence for Travis Eades, who was driving a pickup that slammed into a car carrying Jacqueline Cuzzourt, her daughter, Crista, and Crista's boyfriend, Adam Cox on March 20, 2000.

Crista, 15, and her mother, Jacqueline, 41, were killed on impact. Adam, 14, died the next day.

An analysis showed that Eades' blood alcohol content exceeded the legal limit at the time of the accident. The state Highway Patrol determined that Eades also was traveling at least 70 mph — 20 miles over the speed limit.

Eades will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. To friends and family of the victims, however, 15 years in prison for Eades may seem like small recompense for the three lives so recklessly taken.

Tragedies such as these should spur the Legislature to continue strengthening the state's DUI laws — in the hope of preventing future drunken-driving deaths. South Carolina still has the highest rate of drunken-driving fatalities in the nation. That's a distinction that should shame state lawmakers into stepping up efforts to deter drunken-driving.

To their credit, lawmakers made some hopeful progress last year. They adopted modestly stronger DUI penalties. They also lowered the DUI standard from .10 to .08 percent blood alcohol content. That standard also applies to people operating a watercraft or using a firearm.

Unfortunately, the new .08 law is far from perfect and has proven difficult to administer because of the way its wording has been twisted to help some drivers suspected of driving under the influence. As Gov. Mark Sanford said last week in his State of the State speech, the new .08 law "has become fertile ground for legal questions" and law enforcement officers are having a difficult time using it to "arrest a drunk on the road." The law must be revisited and its wording must be made so clear that not even the slickest lawyer can undermine it.

Despite the glitch with the wording of the .08 law, the state's total number of fatalities in 2003 was below 1,000 — a six-year low. It's not hard to believe that tougher penalties and strategic law enforcement patrolling are helping to lower driving fatalities.

State-funded advertising campaigns that dramatically warn motorists of the consequences of driving under the influence also may be having an impact. The state should continue to fund the advertising campaigns and encourage law enforcement crackdowns on drunken and reckless drivers. In addition, the state certainly has never done enough to discourage drinking by young people and to provide treatment for alcohol-addicted adults.

Finally, strong laws will work only if there are enough troopers to enforce those laws. But the Legislature has cut the number of state troopers to historically low levels — relative to the number of vehicles on the road today.

As evidenced by stronger DUI laws and the sentencing of Travis Eades, South Carolina today has a tougher attitude toward drunken drivers. That attitude could be even tougher.