Two state Assembly bills that would modify state drunken driving laws, including imposing stricter drunken driving penalties, passed the full state Assembly Tuesday.
Wisconsin has long possessed one of the worst drunken driving records compared to other states, with incidents accounting for 33.7 percent of all traffic deaths in 2011, according to the Century Council, an organization concerned with drunken driving.
The state also enforces more lenient traffic laws in comparison to other states when penalizing offenders. Under current law, Wisconsin is the only state in the nation where first-offense cases are merely municipal violations. Such cases warrant a fine of no more than $300 that can be paid without appearing in court.
If the bills are written into law, all first offenders would be required to appear in court, a second offense would be met with an automatic misdemeanor charge and a fourth offense would result in an automatic felony.
The bills will now move to the state Senate.
