State Lawmakers Want To Criminalize First Drunk Driving Offense

MADISON, WI -- Two Wisconsin legislators have introduced a raft of bills pertaining to drunk driving, including one that would criminalize a driver's first offense - and they have a prominent Democratic ally.

State Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon) and State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) introduced the bills Thursday. Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers said Wednesday he is interested in criminalizing first-offense drunk driving.

Evers said as much after an apparent drunk driver killed a Lake Mills Fire Department captain on New Year's Eve.

One of the new bills would make first offense drunk driving a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to $500 in fines or up to 30 days in jail, or both.

“Wisconsin is the only state where first offense OWI is treated as a non-criminal offense, despite the fact that a significant number of OWI crashes involve someone with no prior offenses,” Ott said in a statement. “This bill shows that Wisconsin is taking drunk driving seriously, while at the same time offering a second chance to those who do not reoffend within five years.”

Ott said through a news release that although alcohol related crashes have decreased in recent years, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports that alcohol remains the single greatest contributing cause of fatal crashes.

“In this day and age, there is no excuse for driving under the influence,” Darling said in a prepared statement, “I’m proud of our efforts to get people with drug and alcohol issues the additional help they need through initiatives like the Treatment, Alternative, and Diversion program. These bills strengthen our drunk driving laws but also gives people the chance to show they have made a positive change.”

Under current law, a first-offense drunk driving charge carries up to a $300 fine plus additional surcharges, between 6 to 9 months license revocation, enrollment in a sobriety program, and additional penalties for having children in the vehicle, or if the offense happened in a jurisdiction outside the driver's place of residence.

According to the State Department of Transportation, here are the number of people who have drunk driving convictions on their record. Data is current through 2015:

448,624 drivers had one OWI conviction
131,597 drivers had two OWI convictions
52,002 drivers had three OWI convictions
21,516 drivers had four OWI convictions
9,535 drivers had five OWI convictions
4,138 drivers had six OWI convictions
1,665 drivers had seven OWI convictions
643 drivers had eight OWI convictions
270 drivers had nine OWI convictions
120 drivers had 10 OWI convictions
52 drivers had 11 OWI convictions
17 drivers had 12 OWI convictions
11 drivers had 13 OWI convictions
5 drivers had 14 OWI convictions
3 drivers had 15 OWI convictions
2 drivers had 16 OWI convictions

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