The recent arrest of a driver for his seventh drunken driving offense highlights the need for the state to give increased powers to police to combat drunken driving, according to experts.

A 54-year-old Beloit man, Roderick Burr, was arrested last Thursday in Rock County for swerving into the wrong lane and nearly colliding with a police car. Burr had a blood alcohol content of .23, almost four times the legal limit for operating a vehicle, and was taken into custody, according to the Rock County Sheriff’s office.

This was Burr’s seventh OWI arrest. Experts said his case shows the need for giving increased powers to law enforcement in order to decrease the drunken driving problem.

“Wisconsin’s drunk driving laws are typically viewed as not being very strict at all,” Nina Emerson, director of UW Law School’s Resource Center on Impaired Driving, said. “Police in this state aren’t allowed to set up field sobriety check points, and repeat offenders are not charged with a felony until their fifth offense.”

Given the severity of Burr’s alleged offense, Emerson predicted he could be jailed for at least three years, have his license revoked for two to three years and face a fine of up to $25,000.

However, Emerson emphasized people should not have knee-jerk reactions to outlier cases like this one, given the vast majority of drunken drivers are first-time offenders.

A Department of Transportation report on drunken driving convictions from 2000 to 2007 showed 20,673 first-time convictions compared to 87 seven-time convictions.

Frank Harris, state legislative affairs manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, emphasized the need to crack down on first-time offenders with harsher penalties.

“Right now, first-time offenders basically get a glorified traffic ticket. It’s not even a misdemeanor for a first-time OWI,” Harris said. “This is a terrible policy because the majority of drunk drivers who kill people have no prior record.”

Apart from making a first OWI a misdemeanor, Harris suggested the use of ignition interlocking devices on the vehicles of offenders for a year after the offense. Such devices have a breath-testing component and only allow the car to start if the driver is sober.