The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

Whether Wisconsin’s drunk driving laws are working depends on who you ask. It is indisputable that Wisconsin’s drunk driving laws are not as strict as the laws in surrounding states. But that is not enough to convince everyone that Wisconsin’s laws are too lax.

“As I said before, the Wisconsin drunk driving laws are working. If you check the highway safety numbers, Wisconsin is still one of the safest in the country,” said Swearingen.

Highway safety numbers, like drunk driving numbers, can be calculated in various ways, but according to National Highway Safety Administration statistics from 2006, Wisconsin’s 1.22 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled is considerably below the national average of 1.44 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. However, in 2006 Wisconsin had 724 highway fatalities, 319 of which involved a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher. That percentage of alcohol-related fatalities is higher than the national average.

Tony Albright, professor of traffic safety at Nicolet College, does not believe Wisconsin’s laws are working.

See Debate, Page 3A

“The laws are much tougher in other states. My students are saying the laws are not tough enough. They come from other states so they know,” Albright said.

The pertinent facts support Albright’s conclusion. Wisconsin is the only state that treats a first drunk driving offense as an ordinance violation and not a criminal offense. Among neighboring states, Illinois and Iowa treat third-time offenses as felonies. Michigan and Minnesota treat fourth time offenses as felonies. In Wisconsin a drunk driver must be arrested five times to be considered a felon. Wisconsin also revokes licenses of offenders for lesser time periods than do neighboring states and fines drunk drivers less.

Swearingen doesn’t see the point in comparing states side by side.

“There’s half as many liquor licenses in Minnesota as there are in Wisconsin. The thing you have to realize is that there are two sides to every story,” he said.

Albright points to the average Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) per arrest – nearly .17 or twice the legal limit – as proof that Wisconsin is not doing enough to deter people from driving drunk.

“The problem is not now nor has it ever been having a beer or two at a fish fry. It’s having 10 or 12 beers over a two-hour period. More than two-thirds of people who are in fatal crashes relating to alcohol consumption have never been arrested for a DUI before,” he said.

The debate over Wisconsin’s drunk driving laws came into sharp focus earlier this month when Gov. Jim Doyle and a bipartisan group of legislators called for stiffer penalties for repeat offenders in response to the tragic deaths of 39-year-old Jennifer Bukosky and her 10-year-old daughter Courtney Bella in Oconomowoc on April 25. They were killed when a sports-utility vehicle driven by Mark Benson crashed into them from behind. Two days before the incident, Benson was arrested on a third drunk driving offense and given orders not to drive until his court hearing. He was allegedly under the influence of pills at the time of the fatal crash.

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Comments »

Kim wrote on May 16, 2008 8:48 AM:

" When looking at all these statistics, is it taken into account that today there are many more distractions to drivers than a few years ago. Can it be proven that all these accidents were indeed the result of impaired driving due to drinking or could the ever increasing use of cell phones have been a factor, lighting up a cigarette, eating, etc? "

take off your blinders wrote on May 15, 2008 5:54 PM:

" Mr. swearengin needs to take his blinders off. People are driving under the influence and the high numbers they are going by is the ones that get caught...or the ones that answered yes. He thinks that people are answering unsurely...wake up. Alot more people probably answered no when they are truly driving under the influence. We need stricter laws. Mr. Swearengin suggests stricter laws for repeat offenders. How would you feel if that first offender hit one of your family members and injured or killed on of them? Would you feel that a stricter law would have maybe deterred them more or would you say let them off easy this time and make it stricter for them if it happens again/// "

The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.