California Middle Of The Pack On DUI Enforcement, Study Says

LOS ANGELES, CA — Witnesses reported seeing 70-year-old Kenneth Alan Hoddick weaving and randomly breaking his 1996 Chevrolet Silverado pickup along Route 371 near Temecula on that fateful day in 2014. It was obvious that something was wrong, but Hoddick, who had a history of multiple DUI arrests, kept on going until he plowed head-on into a motorcycle instantly killing Richard Michael Ray, 61.

In May, Hoddick was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison because repeat drunk drivers who kill someone face murder charges in California. However, California is still one of the more lenient states when it comes to intoxicated drivers despite decades of campaigning to reduce drunken driving deaths in the state.

According to analysis released this week by Wallethub, California is 21st in a ranking of the strictest and most lenient states on drunken drivers. The state gets high marks for its preventative efforts. However, California's mandatory minimum jail times for first and second DUIs are considerably lower than most states. Someone arrested on their first DUI faces a mandatory minimum of four days of jail in California. And if they get caught doing it again, they’ll serve 10 days behind bars. Compare that to the strictest state — Arizona — where first time offenders are guaranteed 10 days in jail and 90 if they do it again.

The percentage of traffic fatalities involving alcohol dropped from 48 percent nationwide in 1982 to 30 percent in 1987, but the decline has since stalled, dropping only to 29 percent by 1997. According to experts, it was the institution of zero-tolerance policies, raising the drinking age to 21 and dropping the legal blood alcohol level to .08 that helped make the roads so much safer over the course of decades.

Public awareness and high profile enforcement campaigns along with DUI checkpoints also helped.

“In 1980, if someone was pulled over and found to be under the influence, the officer may have taken the keys and requested the person “sleep it off” before driving again. This would not be the case today, however,” said Marisa E. Auguste, a Behavioral Analyst for the the University of Connecticut’s Transportation Safety Research Center.

Despite the strides made, experts are concerned about the stubbornly high number of people killed in drug and alcohol related crashes. Each year, 10,000 people are killed in DUI crashes in the United States. In California, alcohol related collisions killed 1,155 people and caused nearly 24,000 serious injuries in 2014. However, studies show that in California, intoxicated drivers involved in crashes are more likely to have drugs such as marijuana in their system than alcohol.

“A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent),” according to a statement by the Pasadena Police Department. “Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.”

So how can California do more to protect against impaired drivers? The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended all states reduce the legal limit to .05. A panel of experts further recommended that all offenders be required to use ignition interlocks. Such devices, they contend, could have stopped repeat offenders such as a San Mateo man who was sentenced to three years in prison after eight DUI arrests.

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