In 2011, the State of Wisconsin had 196 drunken driving fatalities. These fatalities accounted for 34 percent of all traffic related deaths – more than any other state that borders Wisconsin. Currently, there are several bills meandering their way through the Legislature that would strengthen impaired driving penalties. Most notably among these proposed changes are making third and fourth drunken driving offenses felonies rather than misdemeanors and making a first drunken driving offense a crime rather than a simple civil infraction. Currently, first drunken driving offenses are treated similarly to a speeding ticket.
Passing this collection of drunken driving bills is necessary to continue to change the culture surrounding drunken driving in Wisconsin. In 1979, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau, thenumber of alcohol-related crashes peaked at nearly 30,000, the number of alcohol-related injuries at nearly 20,000 and the number of alcohol-related fatalities was more than 500. In response to these staggering statistics, the 1981-82 Wisconsin Legislature passed a law that made driving with a blood alcohol content greater than 0.10 percent illegal. Prior to this law being passed, a BAC of 0.10 percent could be considered illegal depending on the situation, but was not strictly illegal.
With a concrete definition of what constitutes a drunken driving offense, the number of alcohol-related crashes, injuries and fatalities plummeted to roughly 20,000, 15,000 and 479 in 1982, respectively. Since that time, the Legislature has passed more restrictions on impaired driving, and the number of alcohol-related fatalities has continued to drop.
In 1989, the Legislature passed a law that made it illegal to drive a commercial vehicle with a BAC of 0.04 percent or greater. In 1991, lawmakers passed a bill setting a 0.08 percent BAC standard for people with two or more drunken driving offenses. In 2003, the Legislature made the 0.08 percent BAC limit standard for anyone operating a motor vehicle. Little by little, bit by bit, the penalties for drunken driving in Wisconsin have been getting stronger and the number of drunken driving fatalities has continued to decline. When the 0.08 percent BAC standard was put in place in 2003, drunken driving fatalities stood at 340; in just eight short years, Wisconsin’s drunken driving fatalities dropped to 196.
The main argument against passing the drunken driving law package is the hefty price tag that will likely come with it. The Department of Transportation has stated that the passage of these bills would cost the state an additional $158.2 million in operating cost and $236.4 million for the construction of 17 new alcohol treatment facilities. However, it is likely that the actual cost of these laws will actually be much lower, and whatever the initial cost it is will decrease as drunken driving decreases.
Wisconsin’s drunken driving penalties must continue to become more severe in order to change the impaired driving culture of our state. Wisconsin is currently the only state in the nation that treats its first time drunken driving offenders as speeders instead of criminals. It is no wonder why Wisconsin leads the nation in drunken driving, with nearly one in four Wisconsinites admitting to driving while under the influence, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Drunken driving killed 196 people last year, and the offense is still not being taken as seriously as it needs to be. Wisconsin is gripped by a drunken driving epidemic, and it must end. This will only happen if we continue to pass laws that incrementally make drunken driving a more severely penalized offense.
Jared Mehre ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science, sociology and legal studies.
