The new drunk-driving laws

The primary bills that go into effect Jan. 1 are:

• The reduction of the legal blood-alcohol limit from .10 to .08 percent.
• Automatic suspension of a driver's licenses for first-time drunken drivers without going to court first.
• Electronic home monitoring for repeat offenders.
• A once-in-a-lifetime chance to avoid prosecution if the driver entesr an alcohol-treatment program.
• Ignition interlock devices installed on the vehicles of drunk drivers with an alcohol level of .15 or above. This prevents the car from being started unless the driver is sober. This bill is called The Mary Johnsen Act, in memory of Mary Johnsen, who died last year from a repeat drunk driver.
• Verification of criminal history and driving record when courts look at a drunk driving case. The new law also increases sentences for vehicular homicide based on past Driving Under the Influence (DUI) convictions.
• Judges allowed to look back seven years, rather than five, when determining prosecution and sentencing of a drunk driver.

Laws that went into effect June 11, 1998 are:

• An increase from $50 to $150 in the amount a driver has to pay to get his or her suspended license back.
• Police officers from other states may cross the border into Washington state when chasing a drunk driver.
• Judges must consider whether there were passengers in the car when sentencing a drunk driver.
• Electronic home monitoring for first-time drunk driving offenders rather than one- and two-day jail sentences.
• Cars of drunks found to be driving with a suspended or revoked license impounded.

--Briana Glenn