DUINews
Rhode Island Gets Low Marks for Drunk Driving Laws
8/16/2005The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has ranked Rhode Island last in the nation for its laws against drunk driving, the Providence Journal (http://www.projo.com) reported Aug. 15.
The nation's smallest state was rated "poor" based on a ranking that judged states based on their adoption of certain model laws, including penalties for refusing to take a blood-alcohol test and allowing roadside sobriety checks. Rhode Island was faulted for failing to pass either of those laws, which the Institute contends have been proven to reduce drunk driving.
See Report:
http://www.hwysafety.org/safety%5Ffacts/state%5Flaws/measure%5Fup.htm
The president of the state chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving called Rhode Island's DWI laws "an embarrassment," and blamed the state legislature for failing to take stronger action. Bernard Frezza, legislative liaison for the state Department of Transportation, said, "There's definitely room for improvement. We've tried to move in the same direction" as the insurance institute recommends.
Rhode Island had the nation's highest proportion of alcohol-related fatalities in 2003, as well as in 2002 and 2001.
Breath Test Refusals Rouse Law Reform
Breath Test Refusals Rouse Law ReformWesterly, RI-In the state of Rhode Island, drivers refuse to take Breathalyzer tests more than in any other state in the country. While the national average is around 25%, Rhode Island's statistic is at 85% according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
A clear explanation for Rhode Island's history with this ranking comes from the state's laws: refusing the Breathalyzer test does not lead to a criminal offense or time in prison. Instead DUI offenders lose their licenses and pay heavy fines because the refusal is treated as a lighter violation of the law.
In Rhode Island, a person is double-charged when refusing the Breathalyzer because they receive charges for both the DUI and the test refusal. Police officers then use visual signs of intoxication to convict a person of DWI. However judges often dismiss at least one of the two charges when officer observation is the only evidence.
Several county police chiefs concur that the consequences of Breathalyzer test refusal need to carry more weight. Under the current state laws, the first three offenses bring fines of $200-500 and a suspended license, with the penalties increasing for each offense after the first. The first offense includes 10-60 hours of community service, and the second includes an alcohol treatment program.
The first-time DWI brings very similar penalties as the first offense for refusal of a Breathalyzer test, however the second offense carries a much heavier fine-maximum $1,000-and 10 days in jail. The third offense brings a maximum fine of $5,000 plus one year in jail.
While police officers may suggest that stricter penalties for test refusal could solve the problem, Michael Cozzolino, a local defense attorney, believes that stricter penalties promote people to incriminate themselves. Cozzolino tells his clients to avoid taking the Breathalyzer test.
Cozzolino thinks that the Connecticut laws seem to create smoother results. In Connecticut, which borders Rhode Island, the DUI laws make taking the Breathalyzer test more appealing than refusing it. First-time offenders can be freed of their DWI charge if they attend a special pretrial education program. An offender is not given the option of the educational workshop if they have been charged with refusing the test.
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers advice regarding lowering the rate of refusal, some is obvious (make penalties more severe) and some is equivocal (interviewing bartenders). By comparing and contrasting the results in different states, Rhode Island police chiefs and citizens hope to lower the state's continual issue with Breathalyzer test refusal.
August, 2005
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Breathalyzer Refusal
Breathalyzer Issue has Political HangoverJim Baron, Journal Register News Service 10/03/2006
PROVIDENCE - A paperwork snafu that caused the Traffic Tribunal to dismiss several breathalyzer refusal cases has escalated into a war of words between Speaker William Murphy (D- Dist. 26, West Warwick, Coventry, Warwick) and Rep. Robert Flaherty (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), a possible leadership challenger.
About 10 cases where suspected drunk drivers refused a breathalyzer test, including at least one that was a client of Flaherty, who is a lawyer in private practice, were dismissed after it was learned some police departments allegedly gave them the wrong information about the consequences of declining the test.
The General Assembly passed a bill significantly toughening the penalties for refusing a chemical test last June in the closing days of its 2006 session. As part of the 2007 budget, it also added a provision for a $200 assessment for each offense to go to the Department of Health.
The Attorney General's office, in anticipation of the toughened penalties being signed into law, drafted a form for police officers to use when dealing with breathalyzer test refusers that detailed the penalties for not taking the test, according to Assistant Attorney General Jay Sullivan. When the budget passed a short time later with the $200 assessment, the Attorney General's office distributed yet another new form to police departments.
But some departments apparently did not get that last update, because they gave some suspects the form that did not contain information about the $200 assessment.
Because those people were not fully warned of the penalties for refusing, their cases were dismissed. Those dismissals, according to District Court Chief Judge Albert DiRobbio, are currently being appealed to a panel of three Traffic Tribunal judges. That could be followed by further appeals to the District Court and, ultimately, the state Supreme Court.
Legislative attempts to toughen penalties for breathalyzer refusal were defeated in the General Assembly for several years running. When groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving began to protest vocally, Murphy blamed the death of the bill year after year on Flaherty, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee where the bills were heard. Flaherty pointed the finger back at Murphy, saying it is the speaker, not committee chairman, who determines whether bills live or die.
Before the start of the session, Flaherty, who made it clear he would participate in, or perhaps even lead, an attempt to topple Murphy as speaker, was replaced as chairman by Rep. Donald Lally, on Murphy's orders.
Murphy then became vocal about moving the breathalyzer bill out of committee. In a letter to Murphy dated Sept. 28, Flaherty said, "when you were a member of Judiciary, you did not support this increase of penalties for refusal and ... your recent support of the legislation was generated by media criticism of you. Your new-found religion has a practical origin."
Flaherty asserts because the 2007 budget, which lists the old penalties for breathalyzer refusal, was signed after the bill sponsored by Pawtucket Rep. J. Patrick O'Neill, which toughened the sanctions, it effectively repeals the O'Neill law.
"In other words," Flaherty wrote to Murphy, "you wiped out your own reform." That is not the case, Murphy and House staffers say.
House legal counsel William Guglietta said the General Assembly works under a system of "statutory construction," whereby the Law Revision Office can reconcile two separate bills on the same subject "and if they are not in conflict, they can draw legislative intent" from the wording of the bills and synthesize them.
Murphy told Flaherty in a Sept. 26 letter that, "as a lawyer and legislator for 16 years, one would suppose that you would understand the manner in which bills are enacted ... It is a well-founded principle that two statutes, when not in conflict, can be read and enforced together. It is obvious that you wish to engage in political grandstanding as opposed to dealing with the facts of this matter."
Source: http://www.zwire.com
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