Do you support this DWI law?

[Salty]

Do you support this law (click on link)

From the link:
A new Ohio law took effect Tuesday that will set up a searchable online database of drunken drivers by name, birth date and address, the Columbus Dispatch reported Tuesday. Under the law, courts must send the Ohio Department of Public Safety the records of people who have been convicted of driving drunk at least five times over a 20-year period.

Scott Woodworth, 49, who is serving a five-year prison term on his 13th drunken driving conviction, told the newspaper that he supports the new law. People have a right to know who among them is a drunk, said Woodworth.

He knows he'll never own a vehicle again, and he hasn't had a license for years. Once out, he says, he will get a bicycle and hope to land a job close to his home. The devices that require someone to blow before starting a car, he said, would have kept him off the streets all these years. He said it was only by God's grace that he never killed anyone. "I don't think I ever hit anything," he said. "At least that I know about."

 

[Aaron]

No. I would, however, support legislation making druken driving a capital crime.

 

[Reformer]

That is just absurd, a data base for sex offenders already exists, and that I am fine with, but are now going to create a database for every petty criminal out there, you just can't keep track of all of them.

And on a separate note, the laws we have now (3 DUI's = Felony) are good enough. Making your first DUI a capitol crime is a really bad idea. I will say the laws we have now definitely need better enforcement, no doubt about that.

Reformer

 

[billwald]

<Under the law, courts must send the Ohio Department of Public Safety the records of people who have been convicted of driving drunk at least five times over a 20-year period.

Doesn't compute as reported. The person would have to be convicted 5 times in one jurisdiction? Logically, every DWI conviction would be reported and and the state records department would make the determination of 5 convictions. And then what happens????

Criminal convictions are a public record - except for the Bush Star Chamber Courts - and anyone who has nothing better to do could make the same lists.

 

[Jon-Marc]

I support ANY effort to keep drunk drivers off the road. The first time they're caught driving drunk, they should be given a hefty fine. The second time they should lose their driver license for 3 months. If caught driving without a license they should be put behind bars for at least a weekend. The third time they should lose their license permanently. If caught driving drunk or without a license, they should spend 6 months behind bars. The 4th time they should spend a year behind bars, and each time the sentence should be increased by at least 6 months.

Drunks can get around that blowing into a device in the car by having someone else do it for them. I once read about a 10-year-old boy who was told by his mother to do it for her. He knew it was wrong but did as he was told. He was terrified of riding with her when she was drunk.