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Tough Drunk Driving Bill Passes Senate
Rokeberg’s HB 4 Makes Alaska DUI Laws Nation’s Strongest

(JUNEAU) - Alaska’s drunken driving laws will be among the nation’s toughest after the Senate’s vote Saturday to pass House Bill 4, an omnibus anti-impaired driving bill sponsored by Rep. Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage).

“House Bill 4 fulfills the clear desire of Alaskans for sanctions in state law that will deter, and if necessary severely punish, those who would drink to the point of impairment before getting behind the wheel,” Rokeberg said. “After two years of work by the Legislature and the public, Alaskans will now enjoy the protection of the strongest anti-drunk driving laws in the country.”

Rokeberg said he drafted House Bill 4 in response to the tragic wave of drunk driving accidents around the state in the past two years, and in response to the recommendations of a mayor’s DUI task force in Anchorage. It includes a broad array of legal action to increase the penalties for drunken driving. The bill:

• Redirects state law to address driving while impaired, to protect Alaskans from those operating vehicles while impaired not just from alcohol, but also from drugs, inhalants or other controlled substances that might impair coordination or judgment
• Substantially increases fines and/or jail terms for drunken driving convictions, including raising the existing $250 fine for first-time offenses to $1,500
• Raises the fines for felony DUI and refusal to take chemical blood tests to $10,000 from $5,000, and allows 10-year or permanent revocation of a drivers license for such offenses
• Authorizes municipalities to pass laws allowing police to seize any vehicle, boat or airplane used in commission of a DUI offense
• Requires DUI offenders seeking renewal of a license to pass a drivers license test and provide proof they met alcohol screening and treatment requirements
• Requires offenders to carry an SR-22 high-risk insurance rating for 5, 10, or 20 years for first, second or third DUI offenses, respectively
• Requires revocation of any vehicle registration for convictions of felony DUI or refusal to take a chemical blood test
• Requires drivers to carry proof of insurance and to present it on demand

House Bill 4 also takes steps to encourage rehabilitation of offenders in several ways. The bill:

• Authorizes a pilot allowing incarcerated DUI offenders to volunteer for the therapeutic drug program
• Allows misdemeanor DUI offenders to serve sentences at community residential centers, or private homes if also monitored by electronic bracelet
• Allows courts to reduce fines by up to 50 percent, and mandatory sentences by up to 75 percent, if offenders successfully complete court-ordered treatment programs

“We realize that one way to get habitual drunk drivers off the streets is to make sure they get screened and evaluated and get the proper treatment that can help them get over this disease or problem,” Rokeberg said. “If people work to resolve any substance abuse problems we’ll work with them, but if they want to continue to put others at risk with their behavior, we will take the steps necessary to fight back.”

Rokeberg called the bill a centerpiece of the Republican Majority’s efforts to address problems of habitual drunk driving in Alaska. Other elements already passed into law include innovative therapeutic courts for substance abuse offenders, recriminalization of juvenile possession or consumption of alcohol, lower blood alcohol content to 0.08 percent, phase in of a ten-year look back requirements, and strengthened anti-bootlegging legislation.

“Our goal with HB 4 is to lower the number of accidents, injuries and deaths that can be attributed to the use of alcohol in this state,” Rokeberg said. “Alcohol abuse causes a number of problems in this state, from domestic violence to traffic fatalities, and I think that by focusing on drunk driving we can remove as many impaired drivers from the road as possible and hopefully have a positive effect on other behaviors as well.”

“This is landmark legislation for the Twenty-Second Legislature that caps our two-year effort to address the problem of impaired and habitual drunken drivers on Alaska’s roads,” he said.

HB 4 moves next to the governor to be signed into law.

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Attachments:

• Print Friendly Version
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 2 page(s) - 23K
  
• SCS CSHB 4 (FIN) Highlights
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 2 page(s) - 63K
• SCS CSHB 4 (FIN) Major Points
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 5 page(s) - 57K
• Comparison Sheet between CSJUD & CSFIN
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 11 page(s) - 30K
• Comparison Sheet between Passed House & Passed Senate versions
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 9 page(s) - 28K

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