CO gets tough on Drunk Drivers

CO State Rep Joell Judd (D-Denver) is introducing a new bill aimed at increasing the penalty for Drunk Driving. His bill would

• Mandatory revocation of driver's license for anyone convicted of vehicular homicide or vehicular assault.

• Revocation for one year for first violation, four years for second offense and six years for third DUI offense.

• Revocation for two years for first offense, six years for the second offense and eight years for the third offense, if the driver refuses to take a blood-alcohol-content test.

Here's my bias alert. I despise drunk driving. You can drink yourself stupid and I won't think a bad thing about you, but when you get behind the wheel you become a real problem. I have no issue with taking someones privilege to drive. Yes it sucks, but you made your decision when you got behind the wheel. So I favor this bill, and here's some more reasons why.

One, again driving is a privilege. Abusing it sends you to the bus. Don't want to ride the bus, don't be an idiot. Just like if you're an idiot at the mall, they ban you for life.

Two, this bill doesn't set up more random checks or any other mechanism/idea that infringes on the rights of ordinary citizens. The way I read it, the only way for the penalty to occur is upon conviction.

Three, it doesn't increase jail time or fines. It goes after the problem, driving. I prefer laws like this.

Now what I don't like. I assume that if you're busted the state takes the car. Don't like that, but it is an assumption.

Two, I'm not entirely comfortable with the notion of the breathalyser in the car. I get that using it is voluntary (but how voluntary is it really?) but I don't like where the concept could lead. I'd rather leave that door closed. Just come up with a penalty and go with it.

Just a quick aside, if I were Rep Judd, I would have reworded it to read that the penalty was two years/six/eight unless the individual elects to take the breathalyser route. Thus it would appear that rather than increasing the punishment for opting out of the breathalyser, you could instead decrease the punishment through your actions. Sort of like time off for good behavior.