MADD Applauds DWI Bills

2005-07-07

New Mexico lawmakers should pursue several anti-DWI bills this year, including one that would stiffen penalties for driving drunk with children, the national head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said.
Wendy Hamilton, MADD's president, was at the Capitol Tuesday to applaud legislators who are considering some 40 bills related to lowering the state's DWI rates.
Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, is sponsoring a measure, Senate Bill 532, that would make it a first-degree instead of a third-degree felony if a child is killed in a car crash with a drunken driver.
The bill also would increase from a fourth-degree to a third-degree felony the penalty for driving while intoxicated with a child in the car, even if no crash occurs.
The goal, Carraro said, is to "get people to think 'If I drive with my kid drunk, I'm going to be in big trouble.' "
Carraro said he is concerned that another bill he is sponsoring (SB16) is stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill, aimed at habitual offenders, would significantly increase jail time depending on the number of the offense.
While Carraro said he supports other bills that would increase jail time, he said he fears they aren't stiff enough.
"Thirty days in jail doesn't keep someone off alcohol. If they drink and drive and go to jail for thirty days, and then do that again four or five times, then it's not enough."
excerpts from The Albuquerque Journal, Article by Kate Nash