Gov. Jim Doyle signed a drunken-driving reform bill Dec. 22 that overhauls current law and establishes stricter penalties for those caught driving while intoxicated.
The bill, which will take effect in July, includes an increase in fines and minimum terms of imprisonment, and requires all repeat drunken drivers and first time offenders with a blood alcohol level of over 0.15 percent (nearly double the legal limit) to install ignition interlock devices.
In addition, the bill makes the first operating while under the influence offense a misdemeanor if a child under 16 is present in the vehicle. It also raises a fourth offense from a misdemeanor to a felony if it occurs within five years of the most recent crime.
Although these are the most significant changes made to Wisconsin's drunken driving laws since the mid-1980s, many politicians, including Doyle, say they see this bill only as a first step.
""It is a good bill and another major step forward to fight drunk driving,"" Doyle said in a statement. ""We still have a long way to go. The bill is not everything everybody wanted, and it's not everything I wanted.""
State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, said the bill as it is will not only be ineffective, but will be a waste of money and energy.
In addition to saying the bill is ""grossly underfunded,"" Schneider said he has ""seen these [types of] bills come and go, and they have made little difference.""
State Rep. Peggy Krusick, D-Milwaukee, is working on her own bill that she says will complement and strengthen the one that recently passed. Krusick said her bill aims to legalize sobriety check points and make all firs-time offenses criminal.
Krusick said the effects of first-time offenses are not different from those of offenses committed the third or fourth time and that three out of four fatal drunken driving accidents are caused by first-time offenders.
""I think it's time to make drunk driving a crime every time,"" she said.
