Legislative Package
January 11, 2004
110 Newton Lane
Oak Ridge, TN 37830-8120
865-483-8801
dagenhartwk@cs.com
Phil Bredesen
Governor of Tennessee
Governor's Office
Tennessee State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243-0001
Phone: 615.741.2001
Fax: 615.532.9711
Email: phil.bredesen@state.tn.us
Subject: Remove Intoxicated Drivers Supported Tennessee DUI Legislation for 2004
Dear Governor Bredesen:
I and my lady co-legislative chairman were discussing just tonight a young lady whose child was injured by a claimed drunk teenager. We have seen many families destroyed or seriously injured by drunk or drugged drivers.
I am sorry that I did not meet you and your wife when you came to Knoxville recently, but I simply did not know about it until it was over. I am impressed by what you and your wife have done so far in your positions for Tennessee. I was told you would be particularly helpful and interested in passing DUI legislation and in helping to solve this long standing problem.
I am convinced that it is ultimately within our grasp to get rid of at least 90% of the DUI trauma and costs. We simply do not have the legislation or government systems set up to accomplish this yet. I do not envision this solution consuming much more state resources than we now use when it is completed. For example the new Drug Courts (which RID is currently trying to get started in Anderson County with Knox County Drug Court help) promises to get a lot of people out of prison with a very aggressive probation system (the DUI person chooses between this and long jail sentences) involving the judges, police, probation system, district attorneys, attorneys, Churches, and others. This results in the need for less jail space and reformed DUI offenders at a much lower cost. Ten year results I have from New York State have shown this to be true.
Summary and Introduction:
From the latest figures on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s web site, DUIs cost the citizens of Tennessee $2.2 Billion in 1997 and these figures keep rising yearly. During the 1997 year there were 496 deaths, 11,700 injuries, and ~28,900 crashes caused by alcohol. We project that with the proposed legislation and sufficient enforcement that we could yearly lower this cost by ~$1 Billion, cut the deaths by ~250, cut the severe injuries (coma and quadriplegics, etc. ) by ~250 and cut the generally recoverable injuries by 5,000. Some of these generally recoverable injuries include those that cause loss of jobs permanently, loss of productivity, severe permanent pain, and others. This is not a small problem. Part of the cost above includes healthcare costs such as with Tenn Care where costs are not recovered, but paid by the taxpayers and makes state budgets higher.
We say that all this legislation could be passed revenue neutral with fines and fees paid by those that can pay covering all increased costs. This program will pay for itself while lowering the State Budget Costs and save Tennesseans money. Former Republican House Representative David Coffey, present Democratic Representative Jim Hackworth, and Republican Senator Randy McNally all from our district have reviewed this legislation and said that our proposals are worthy of support.
We invite you to come out with a support package for this legislation and invite your support in getting it through both of the legislative houses.
Legislative Package
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Pending Bills
1. Open Container
SB 1717 sponsored by Sen. Jim Bryson
HB 1213 sponsored by Rep. Susan Lynn
This bill would replace the existing open container law and make it an offense for a person to possess an open container for an alcoholic beverage within the passenger area of a motor vehicle while on a public highway. Passenger area would include the driver's and passenger's seats and any area that is readily accessible to the driver and passengers, including, but not limited to the glove compartment. Possession would be a Class C misdemeanor and consumption while driving would be a Class B misdemeanor.
RID SUPPORTS THIS BILL AS WRITTEN
2. Mandatory BAC/police
SB 0822 sponsored by Sen. John Ford
HB 0605 co-sponsored by Rep. John Deberry and Rep. Glen Casada
This bill authorizes a law enforcement officer to have the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury or death tested for drug and alcohol content of the blood, or if the official has probable cause to believe the driver has committed: A. driving under the influence, B. vehicular assault, C. vehicular homicide, or D. aggravated vehicular homicide. These tests can be done with or without the driver's consent.
NOTE RID CHANGES DEMANDING BOTH DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING FOR ALL CASES
3 . Repeat Offenders
SB 1070 sponsored by Sen. Doug Jackson
HB 0270 sponsored by Rep. David Shepard
This bill reconciles provision of existing DUI law requiring participation in drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for second and subsequent offenders, to provision requiring assessment and treatment for DUI offenders with multiple convictions within 5 years.
RID DOES NOT FAVOR THIS BILL. We should demand treatment for all multiple offenders without the time stipulation.
4. Testing Blood for Alcohol and Drug Content
SB 1697 sponsored by Sen. Mae Beavers
HB 0166 sponsored by Rep. Beth Harwell
This bill revises the provision that any person who drives a motor vehicle in this state gives consent to a test for the purpose of determining alcohol OR drug content of blood. This version of the bill specifies that the driver will have consented to TWO tests, one to test for drugs and one to test for alcohol, rather than just one test for both substances. These tests must be given within 2 hours of arrest or initial detention or they will not be admissible into evidence.
RID NOTE THAT THE 2 HOUR LIMIT SHOULD PROBABLY NOT APPLY TO THE DRUG TEST SINCE MOST DRUGS LAST FOR A LONG TIME IN THE BLOOD STREAM.
5. Repeat Offenders - punishment
HB 0190 sponsored by Rep. Mike Turner
This bill provides enhanced punishment for person convicted of DUI if at the time of the violation the person's driver license was revoked or suspended because of a conviction, in this state or another state, of vehicular assault, vehicular homicide or DUI. This applies to a second or subsequent DUI offense. The mandatory minimum sentence would be 11 months and 29 days.
RID SUPPORTS THIS LEGISLATION AS WRITTEN
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RID Proposed New Legislation
There are several pieces of new legislation that RID would like to see passed.
6. Reduced Time for Drug and Alcohol Testing
The first has to do with the amount of time it takes for the blood tests for alcohol and drugs to come back from the TBI labs. We would like to see a set time limit on the TBI labs to get these tests completed and the results back to the law enforcement agency that requested them. Recently there has been a backlog of tests waiting to be done and the police are waiting for the results, in order to bring charges against a suspected impaired driver. The TBI lab considers 4-6 weeks to be the normal length of time for routine tests to be completed and the results returned. More extensive testing will take an even longer length of time. For example, testing for THC (marijuana) took 5-6 months to be completed in Gail Myers son's case. We feel that this is much too long.
We would like to see that time decreased to less than 10 days to 2 weeks maximum for all alcohol and drug testing. Judges have expressed an interest in this proposal since they have to reschedule numerous hearings because the alcohol and drug test results are not back. This in turn puts a suspected impaired driver back on the road for a longer period of time.
The fees for this testing should be increased to permit staffing to get rid of the backlog and to keep the short return time and make this a revenue neutral bill.
7. Social Host Legislation
The "Social Host" legislation was active this last session. It would allow judges or a jury to consider furnishing of alcoholic beverages or beer to a person under 21 or a visibly intoxicated person as proximate cause in civil action for personal injury or death involving an intoxicated person.
Also, this bill would allow a jury to award damages against an individual who either FURNISHED OR SOLD alcoholic beverages to an underage person, instead of only against an individual who sold such beverages to such underage person.
RID Comments: We feel this bill is an important step toward combating underage drinking. If a teenager attends a party at a friend's house and the parents knowingly serve alcohol to the underage person or persons then they (the parents) can be held liable in a civil action suit if an accident involving one of these underage drinkers/drivers results in an injury or death.
8. Mandatory Blood Alcohol and Drug Testing
Another piece of legislation we are interested in starting is mandatory drug testing performed when blood testing for alcohol is requested. The tests could be done at the same time, thus making the waiting time for results shorter. If there is probable cause to check the BAC, then there is probable cause to have drug testing also.
RID Comment: This is contained in one of the above pieces, but should not get lost if the above is not passed.
9. Administrative License Revocation
Last, but not least, we would like to see some type of ALR (Administrative License Revocation) bill passed. Due to the number of DUI cases being dismissed because of bad Breathalyzer techniques, lack of training, improper certification, etc. mandate an immediate Breathalyzer test to be used for the ALR bill, followed by blood tests for drugs and alcohol both to be used in the court case.
RID Comments: We have been trying to get this passed for over 10 years. It is strongly recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and they have model legislation that can be used. It was already being used by more than 17 states over 10 years ago.
10. Making Refusal to Take a Blood Alcohol and Drug Test a Class A Misdemeanor
We contacted Anderson County District Attorney General James Ramsey and he would like to make a driver's refusal to take a Blood Alcohol test a Class A misdemeanor. It is the state's responsibility to prove that the driver was under the influence of an intoxicant and they have to prove it to 12 members of the jury. Some lawyers are advising clients to refuse the blood alcohol and then they can create just a little doubt to the guilt of their client in just 1 juror's mind, thus keeping their client from being punished justly. A bill making refusal of BAC a Class A misdemeanor would mean a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days and a $2500 fine.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. W. Kelly Dagenhart
President
Remove Intoxicated Drivers of Oak Ridge/Anderson County