In 2005, Kansas averaged eight alcohol-related crashes a day, according to the Kansas Accident Records System.
Kansas officials hope that will change with enhanced DUI penalties addressing "super drunks," a term coined by some of the legislators during discussion about the DUI enhancements. The enhancements went into effect statewide on July 1.
Former DUI provisions remain in effect under the updated laws. These provisions mandate that an initial DUI for blood-alcohol contents of 0.08 percent or more will result in a 30-day driver's license suspension for individuals over 21 years old and additional restrictions for up to a year.
Second, third and fourth offenses result in a one-year suspension of the offender's driver's license, and fifth DUI citations result in permanent revocation of the license.
Licenses belonging to offending individuals under 21 years old are suspended for their first through fourth DUIs and permanently revoked upon subsequent DUIs.
Kansas recently adopted additional provisions that address BACs of 0.15 percent and higher, and the federal government is pushing for them to be added into other states' legislation as well.
"When you look at the average BAC across the state, it is 0.16, which is double the legal 0.08," said Michele Reese, program administrator for the Kansas Drunk Driving Prevention Office, concerning reasons for the penalty enhancements. "If states enact a law that covers 0.15 BAC and higher, they qualify for additional funds for their state highway system," Reese said, "but the one (reason) I'm most interested in is getting offenders off the roads so innocent people aren't confronted with them."
The new legislation mandates that offenders with a BAC of 0.15 or more will receive a year-long license suspension for the first incidence, in contrast to the 30-day suspension faced by first-time offenders with BACs of 0.08.
Additionally, offenders are required to use an ignition interlock device, a mechanism wired into a vehicle's ignition that prevents it from starting unless a clean breath sample is blown into it.
"They're extremely sensitive," said Adam Block, business manager of HB Stereo Inc. in Manhattan. HB Stereo is a local service provider for Consumer Safety Technology Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa, a company that provides ignition interlock devices.
"It takes an extremely clean signal before the car will start," Block said. Some ignition interlocks take pictures to prevent people from circumventing their purpose, and others require drivers to blow into them every 15 minutes to keep the vehicle running.
Under the enhanced law, additional penalties for second or subsequent convictions include impounding the vehicles of offending drivers, or immobilizing them for two years.Meanwhile, all associated costs for the ignition interlock device, towing, impoundment, storage fees and other immobilization costs would be paid by the offender.
Additional 0.15 BAC DUIs result in year-long driver's license suspensions and two to four years of using ignition interlocks. Subsequent occurrences result in permanent revocation of driver's licenses.
The law enhancement also punishes refusal to take a DUI test with a year of suspension and the ignition interlock device restriction for convicted individuals.
Offenders under the age of 21 with a 0.15 BAC will experience the same penalties as offenders age 21 and over.
"Fourteen to sixteen thousand people die annually in alcohol-related crashes nationwide," said Chris Bortz, assistant bureau chief of traffic safety at the Kansas Department of Transportation. "A driver with a BAC of 0.15 or greater is 20 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a sober driver."
Like the 0.08 BAC DUI, the third conviction remains on a person's record for life as a felony.
"Any DUI remains on your record. It's the 0.15 that keeps you from getting jobs, joining the military and registering to vote, those kinds of freedoms that we all enjoy," Reese said.
