Missouri looks at ideas to deter drunken driving

By JASON NOBLE

The Star’s Jefferson City correspondent

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JEFFERSON CITY | Law enforcement officials and Gov. Jay Nixon shared ideas Wednesday on how to deter drunken driving and reduce alcohol-related accidents.

The goal of the “summit” was to generate ideas for a new DWI bill that Nixon wants to see on his desk next year.

“The status quo on DWIs is simply unacceptable,” said Nixon, a Democrat.

Records of drunken-driving offenses from the state’s patchwork of local governments too often aren’t available to prosecutors in other jurisdictions, allowing repeat offenders to get off with easier sentences.

“If nothing else is done, the No. 1 thing is to make finding DWI priors so easy even a caveman could do it,” said Morley Swingle, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor.

There appeared to be consensus on the need to reconsider laws concerning license revocation and refusal of breath-alcohol tests.

Suspension and revocation of driver’s licenses have proven ineffective and counterproductive, officials said, because offenders often simply continue driving.

Suggested solutions included mandating ignition interlock devices — requiring a driver to pass a breath-alcohol test before starting a car — and forfeiture, in which the state could impound an offender’s vehicle.

To reach Jason Noble, call 573-634-3565 or send e-mail to jnoble@kcstar.com.

Posted on Wed, Nov. 04, 2009 11:05 PM

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