11/26/07-An effort that is expected to draw consideration in the statehouse next year would get tough with certain drivers who get behind the wheel after drinking too much.
Alabama is one of only five states that doesn’t require use of a device that prevents a vehicle from starting when the driver has a previous drunken-driving conviction. Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, wants to remove Alabama from that short list during the legislative session that begins in January.
McClendon is chairman of the State Safety Coordinating Committee. The panel agreed to offer a bill next session that would require a repeat drunken-driving offender to install an ignition interlock device.
Interlocks are hooked up to the ignition of vehicles. Once such a device is installed, a driver must blow into a mouthpiece, which measures the amount of alcohol on a person’s breath. If the driver blows clean, the car will then start; if not, it won’t budge.
In addition, the devices often require drivers to re-blow in the machine after a designated period of time, to ensure that they have not convinced someone else to blow into the mouthpiece for them, or that they haven’t been drinking since getting behind the wheel.
Advocates for stricter drunken driving rules cite statistics that show drivers who are convicted on driving while intoxicated usually have driven drunk 87 times before being caught.
Repeat offenders in Alabama face the loss of their licenses. Those drivers must apply for a new license and pass both the written and road tests to once again become legal to drive.
The cost of installing the devices would be the driver’s responsibility. They typically run about $100 to install and $75 per month to maintain and recalibrate, The Huntsville Times reported.

10/31/07-Gov. Bob Riley is expected to call on Alabama state lawmakers to close loopholes in the state’s drunken driving laws. He also wants new penalties for people caught driving with excessive blood alcohol levels.
The proposed legislation would focus on an anomaly in the state’s laws for driving under the influence. Alabama law now allows for a longer minimum sentence for a third DUI offense than a fourth offense.
Riley also wants to eliminate a provision that says only prior DUI convictions within the past five years can be considered at sentencing. Another change sought by the governor would double the minimum punishment for people convicted of driving with a blood-alcohol content of at least 0.15 percent – nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Currently, first offenses for driving with a BAC of at least 0.15 percent can result in fines up to $600 and 90-day suspensions of driver’s licenses. Riley is calling for drunken drivers to face at least $1,200 fines and loss of driving privileges for one year.
The governor’s administration says about 40 percent of fatal highway wrecks in Alabama involve alcohol. More than half of the alcohol-related crashes involve drivers who have alcohol readings more than 0.15 percent, The Associated Press reported.
Additional incentive to approve the stricter rules is coming from the federal government. The state stands to lose $2 million annually in federal funding for state troopers if it doesn’t adopt five of eight “alcohol impaired” driving countermeasures by next year.
Alabama is one of 11 states that doesn’t have enhanced penalties for drivers convicted of DUI with a high blood-alcohol content.
The governor is expected to propose the bill to lawmakers during the session that begins Feb. 5.