Group wants tougher law for DUI with kids in car

Hawaii could improve on its laws to combat drunken driving by imposing tougher penalties for people who drive drunk with a child in the car, according to a new report by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The latest annual report from the national organization compares state laws dealing with intoxicated motorists. It gives Hawaii 3-1/2 stars out of a possible five-star rating, in part because the state has not created a separate felony charge for motorists who drive drunk with a child in the vehicle. According to MADD, seven states have created such separate felony charges.

MADD describes driving drunk with a child in the vehicle as a “a form of child abuse that should be met with additional penalties.”

MADD cites statistics by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that show that 2,469 people under age 15 were killed from 2000 to 2009 while riding in vehicles of intoxicated motorists.

Motorists in Hawaii who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol with a child in the vehicle are fined an extra $500 and can face up to 48 hours of extra jail time.

That 48 hours in jail is far short of the penalties that are generally imposed for felony convictions, and creating a separate, more serious felony offense for those motorists would allow the courts to impose longer sentences.

State Senate Judiciary and Labor Chairman Gil Coloma-­Agaran said Hawaii lawmakers can consider creating a new felony charge but that there could be drawbacks.

“I would expect the more serious criminal penalties associated with a felony (and the resources needed to enforce those penalties) would need to be weighed against the policy of getting drunks off the street and requiring interlocks quickly in an administrative adjudication,” he said in a written statement.

In other words, drunken driving cases that could otherwise be resolved through fairly rapid administrative proceedings might instead be fought out in lengthy trials in court if a felony charge is a possibility.

The MADD report cites New York’s “Leandra’s Law” as a model for other states. Adopted in 2009, it makes it a felony punishable by up to four years in prison for motorists who drive drunk with a child under 16 years in the vehicle.

Under Leandra’s Law, New York motorists who drive while drunk or under the influence of drugs who cause serious physical injury to a child in the vehicle can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.