Hundreds of people are killed or injured in Colorado each year by drunken drivers. Far too many of those drivers have been arrested more than once for driving while drunk.
One of every three drunken drivers stopped by police is a repeat offender, according to a review by Denver Post reporters Kevin Vaughan and David Olinger. The reporters found ghastly examples of offenders who have been stopped more than 10 times, and even some with more than 20 arrests for driving drunk.
And yet Colorado is one of only four states where repeat drunken driving offenses are not an automatic felony punishable with prison time.Given these startling statistics, our legislators ought to develop stronger drunken driving laws.
Many states have a three-strikes law that triggers a felony charge. Considering the lives that are at stake, three driving under the influence, or DUI, arrests awarded to a single driver seems plenty lenient.
Prosecutors are mixed on the question. Some argue that alternative sentencing mixed with therapy and counseling can coax an offender back to a more sober, productive life.
We know Colorado’s prisons already are full and costly to maintain, which is why we support alternative sentencing and rehab. But more than three arrests suggests a problem that might be better addressed if the clear penalty of a felony conviction loomed over the process.
The Post’s reporters found that from 2005 to 2007, 5,679 Colorado drivers arrested for drunken driving had at least three prior offenses. Of those, 84 had been stopped for drunken driving at least 10 times, and five more than 20 times.
Overall, an average of 10,835 of the 31,011 arrested each year were repeat offenders.
Consider the case of Ramon Romero, who despite eight previous arrests for drunken driving got behind the wheel in 2004 with a blood-alcohol content of 0.212 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Romero slammed into the car of Sonja DeVries while she waited at a traffic light. The 19-year-old died a few hours later.
The Post found cases of repeat offenders who did serve prison time through violations of habitual offender laws and yet went on to drive drunk again, with fatal consequences. So even an automatic felony law won’t end the madness.
But an automatic felony and prison time would no doubt make at least some drivers already undergoing counseling and therapy for drunken driving convictions pay more attention.
An attempt in 2007 by lawmakers to create a felony DUI law failed due to budget concerns. As the recession continues, those concerns will remain.
But Colorado clearly needs to do more to protect its law-abiding drivers from the great dangers of these hardened repeat offenders.
