Tougher Laws against DWI Offenders Signed.

As many Missouri families prepare to travel this holiday weekend, Gov. Matt Blunt signed tough legislation to better protect them from drunk drivers requiring repeat offenders to modify their vehicles with ignition interlock devices to ensure they cannot endanger other Missourians by drinking and driving.
"Drunk drivers take thousands of innocent lives every year. My heart goes out to the parents, the children, the brothers, the sisters, and the friends who have had their lives changed forever by the criminal irresponsibility of drunk drivers," Gov. Blunt said. "No one should have to suffer through the pain caused by drunk driving accidents. When someone abuses their driving privilege they should have to prove their trustworthiness to get their driver’s license back. And not just by promising not to do it again, but through ignition interlocks which verify sobriety."
"I appreciate Gov. Blunt signing this comprehensive transportation reform package," Sen. Stouffer said. "These reforms come from several years of collaborative work which will result in moving transportation forward in Missouri."
Senate Bill 930, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stouffer, amends Missouri law regarding the issuance of ignition interlocks as penalties for repeat drunk driving offenders. Under current law courts are required to mandate ignition interlock devices, a vehicle modification system that disables a vehicle’s ignition if the driver is drunk or drinking, on the second or subsequent offense.
The legislation shifts responsibility for interlock devices from the courts to the Department of Revenue. To re-gain their driving privileges from the Department of Revenue, convicted drunk drivers must use an ignition interlock device.
In 2005 there were 3,163 drivers convicted of second and subsequent offenses. Of those only about 19 percent, or 614, were required by the courts to install the interlocks. The shift of this responsibility for interlock devices from the courts to the Department of Revenue should address this problem.
The legislation signed by Gov. Blunt also addresses a loophole in our current drunk driving laws. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled, essentially, that municipal DWIs could not count in a prosecutor’s calculation of whether to charge a defendant as a persistent prior offender. This legislation closes this new loophole and with Gov. Blunt’s signature, municipal DWIs will once again count against a defendant.
Gov. Blunt’s action continues his strong stance against alcohol offenders. He has signed legislation closing a loophole in the law that had allowed some arrested for drunk driving to avoid prosecution on a technicality. He also signed legislation creating two new classes for repeat DWI offenders, aggravated and chronic, that both carry increased penalties. In addition the governor strengthened Missouri’s laws against underage drinking by changing penalties to address both the possession and consumption of alcohol by minors. In Missouri a minor could be found guilty of a "minor in possession" if he or she is visibly intoxicated or has a blood alcohol content of more than .02. New laws enacted by the governor also prohibits adults from allowing minors to drink on their private property unless they are the minor’s legal guardians and requires school districts to create a policy detailing the consequences if a student is found to either possess or drink alcohol on school property or at school events.