Pennsylvania Named Third Most Lenient State On DUI

Remember all those DUI checkpoints last weekend? Apparently, the crackdown on drunk drivers isn’t as strict in Pennsylvania as it is elsewhere in the nation, according to one new study.

Pennsylvania is the third most lenient state in the nation on intoxicated drivers, says WalletHub, a financial services company that runs several nationwide studies.

The study analyzed each state’s criminal penalties and prevention methods, including sixteen different categories.

Here were Pennsylvania’s complete results:

1. No minimum sentence on first DUI offense
2. 5 days minimum on second offense
3. DUI is not an automatic felony
4. DUI factors into penalties for 10 years after offense
5. DUI does not lead to an administrative license suspension
6. Vehicle is not impounded after DUI
7. Ignition interlock is not mandatory until second conviction
8. The interlock period is 12 months
9. There is an additional penalty for a BAC above 0.16
10. Minimum fine on the first offense is $300
11. Minimum fine on second offense is $300
12. PA does have “no refusal” sobriety testing
13. The average insurance rate increase after a DUI is 25%
14. There is child endangerment protection
15. There are sobriety checkpoints
16. There are not other penalties

Compared to other states, the most glaring differences in Pennsylvania were the much lower insurance rate penalty (up to 103% in other states), and the fact that DUI is not an automatic felony.

Experts say that deterring DUIs is not about the severity of the punishment but the effectiveness of law enforcement in catching those that commit the crime.

“A lot of American criminal justice policy is focused on the severity of the punishment because that’s what sells well in campaign ads,” says Adam Gershowitz, the Kelly Professor of Teaching Excellence and Professor of Law at William and Mary Law School.

“But a large number of social science studies have found that the harshness or severity of the punishment is the least effective deterrent. Far more effective at deterring crime, such as DWI, is the certainty that the person will be caught and punished, even if the punishment is lighter.

Pennsylvania was joined at the bottom with the ”most lenient” states with South Dakota and the District of Columbia.

Arizona and Alaska were the two states that were the strictest on drunk drivers.

Nearby New Jersey ranked 41st, and New York ranked 30th.

Overall, the study found that traditionally “red” Republican states were stricter on DUI’s than ”blue” Democratic states.

Alcohol impaired driving was the cause of 31 percent of motor vehicle fatalities in 2012, according to WalletHub.

That rate has decreased 52 percent since a DUI crackdown began in the 1980s, the study states.