Two state legislators introduced a bill last week that would stiffen laws against people arrested for drunken driving.

State Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, and Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, drafted legislation known as "John's Law," which is aimed at protecting the public from drunk drivers. If passed into law, it would mandate police to immobilize or seize the vehicle of a person arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated for a 12-hour period following the arrest.

"What 'John's law' is about is making the roads safer for everyone by making sure drunken drivers can't get back on the road in the 12 hours after getting arrested," Lassa said.

Under current law, a person held in police custody for drunken driving must remain there for a 12-hour period unless a responsible adult bails the person out. However, the new legislation would place legal responsibility for the offenders on the people who bail them out for the remainder of the 12-hour period. If the offender then further breaks the law in the allotted time, the person's legal custodian would also shoulder legal consequences for those actions.

"That person could be held responsible in a civil suit, but it would also be possible that there could be law enforcement actions taken against that person," Lassa said.

The bill mirrors a New Jersey law named for Navy Ensign John Elliot, who was killed by a drunken driver who had just been released into a friend's custody and was still intoxicated and got behind the wheel a second time.

"This bill is a great idea. Having a 12-hour 'cooling off' period for drunk drivers is a logical way to save more innocent lives," Kaufert said in a release. "As legislators, this is another thing we can do to help put the brakes on this deadly problem in our state."

Additionally, Lassa said, funds required for the enforcement of the law would not come from state taxes and would not create a financial burden on its citizens.

"The incentive to have states pass this law is money that will be available through the federal government in grants for local and state law enforcement agencies to pay for impounding or immobilizing the vehicles," Lassa said.

Lt. Richelle Anhalt of the Dane County Sheriff's Department said drunken driving is a prevalent problem in the county, noting lately there have been cases of people committing driving-while-intoxicated offenses for the fifth or more time.

"If you look at the statistics for serious injury or fatality crashes, they still say that the three primary factors that cause the crashes are alcohol, speed and failure to fasten seatbelts," Anhalt said.

The punishments for drunken driving vary based on severity of the offense, the number of previous offenses and whether the offense results in harm to others, Anhalt said.

"If the drunk-driving offense involves an accident and there's any kind of injuries or great bodily harm or if a death is involved, that pushes the punishments up," Anhalt added. "It really depends on the circumstances for each."

Lassa concurred with Anhalt's assertion, noting the legislation would add to efforts already in place to curb the problem.

"Certainly, drunken driving happens far too often on Wisconsin's roadways," Lassa said. "Drunk-driving awareness campaigns have had a positive effect in reducing the number of people caught for driving drunk, but this will give law enforcement an additional tool to protect innocent people from those drivers who get behind the wheel after drinking."