Drunken driving // State may say `Four strikes and you walk'

Joining the leading edge of states getting tougher on drunkendrivers, Illinois lawmakers are weighing a bill that wouldpermanently revoke the driver's license of a person with four DUIconvictions.

Dubbed by supporters as "the driver's license death penalty,"the bill was passed unanimously by the House last month and is now inthe Senate's hands.What else does it do?

The measure also would allow authorities to seize a driver'svehicle used during a second DUI offense, if a spouse was not aco-owner of the vehicle."The loss of your license forever and the loss of your carforever - I think that's about as strong a message as you can send,"says state Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Urbana), the bill's sponsor.Some wondered whether a car would be impounded if it was ownedby someone other than the person arrested.Johnson said the car would be seized only if the owner knewbeforehand that the driver was drunk. In cases of joint ownership,the vehicle would be assigned to a spouse.A trendIf the legislation is passed, Illinois would join Vermont andConnecticut in taking away a motorist's license for life after fourDUI convictions.Drivers in South Carolina and West Virginia also lose theirlicenses permanently if they receive multiple DUI convictions, butall must take place within a 10-year period.Pennsylvania is considering a measure similar to Illinois' formotorists convicted of three drunken driving offenses, but the billhas stalled in committee. Members are hashing out opponents'concerns that penalties alone won't stop habitual DUI offenders: Theyalso need treatment.Death an impetusSupports say the law would make habitual drunken drivers thinktwice about getting behind the wheel."If you know that if you get that fourth offense you're going tolose your license forever," it would serve as a deterrent, says BradFralick of Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Illinois.The impetus for the Illinois bill was the deaths of two sisters,killed last year by a repeat drunken driver. "We feel that we owe itto our daughters to try to make some changes," said Barbara Esworthy,mother of the girls.Not all on boardThe Illinois State Bar Association, a 34,000-member lawyers'group, opposes the measure. Members maintain that the state alreadyhas a strict administrative review hearing process for DUI offenderstrying to get their licenses back."I think the bill would make Illinois' DUI law one of the mostunfair and ineffective in the country," said Larry Davis, a DesPlaines lawyer who heads a traffic committee for the group.Without treatment, repeat DUI offenders will continue to drive -regardless of whether they've lost their license permanently, hesaid.The problemDUI arrests in Illinois totaled 47,460 in 1997, a 6 percentincrease from the previous year's total of 44,710. Of that 44,710,about 16 percent involved repeat offenders.Before last July, motorists with a blood-alcohol level of 0.10or above were considered drunk. Since then, the minimum level hasbeen 0.08. Between July and December, about 800 drivers were snaredviolating the new minimum, according to the most recent statisticsavailable.Traffic fatalities in Illinois dropped 6 percent between Julyand December, compared with the previous year; the new law maydeserve the credit.Drinking age hikedRaising the minimum legal drinking age to 21 also has savedlives. That has been the law in all states since 1988, when Wyomingraised its drinking age.A movement to lower the drinking age had begun in 1971, when18-year-olds got the right to vote and became eligible to be draftedfor the Vietnam War. But alarmed by alcohol abuse among teenagers,states - led by Minnesota - began raising their drinking ages.Between 1976 and 1984, 27 other states followed suit.Then Congress passed the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, whichthreatened states with the loss of highway funds if they didn't raisetheir minimum drinking age to 21. It didn't take long for theremaining states to establish that age threshold as the law of theland.Fatalities downMinimum-age laws have cut traffic fatalities involving driversages 18-20 by 13 percent and saved an estimated 16,513 lives since1975, according to the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration.Also, between 1986 and 1996, the percentage of intoxicateddrivers ages 15-20 who were killed or involved in fatal crashes fell54 percent. That was the largest decline of any age group.But some question whether the higher drinking age is entirelyresponsible. They point to the increased use of seat belts and airbags, safer cars and the effectiveness of campaigns against drinkingand driving.