By: Scott Brinton
Police alleged that Vernon was driving drunk. Tests revealed that his blood alcohol content was .17, more than twice the legal limit of .08.
Ketcher, of Elmont, had been arrested twice before for driving while intoxicated, in 1982 and 1994. The first time, he paid a $250 fine. The second time, he paid $500 and was sentenced to probation. He served no jail time.
New York State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican of Merrick, said Hernandez's and Bravo's tragic deaths spurred him to revisit last year's reworked DWI law and find ways to toughen it.
At a news conference last Friday, Fuschillo proposed two bills. The first would bar a person charged with driving while ability impaired (DWAI) from plea bargaining down to a non-alcohol offense. As the law stands, someone charged with DWAI can plead guilty to a non-alcohol charge, which masks the crime of driving while intoxicated.
Fuschillo said the measure would "ensure that the defendant's record appropriately reflects the actual crime committed, and that the subsequent drunk-driving offenses will be treated as repeat offenses."
The second bill would require anyone convicted of DWI who had been found guilty of the crime in the previous five years to serve jail time. Requiring repeat offenders to serve time would discourage drunk driving, Fuschillo said. Currently, a two-time drunk driver can serve five days in the county jail or be sentenced to community service.
Too often, the senator said, drunk drivers get community service and probation.
Driving with a blood alcohol content of .07 is considered DWAI, while .08 is DWI. At the hands of a drunk driver, Fuschillo said, a car "becomes a weapon."
Denna Cohen, president of the Long Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, was on hand for the news conference. Cohen, whose 21-year-old daughter, Jodi, was killed by a repeat drunk driver 15 years ago, said she'll fight to see Fuschillo's bills passed.
The woman who killed her daughter in Port Jefferson had been arrested for drunk driving four times previously, but had served no jail time. "We can't allow offenders to get away with murder," Cohen said. "Right now, [DWI is] treated like littering."
Marge Lee, president of the Franklin Square-based DEDICATEDD (Drive Educated Drive Informed Commit and Totally End Drunk Driving), said, "Repeat offenders are given chance after chance."
Lee's son was killed by a drunk driver. "My son doesn't get a second chance," said Lee, who was severely injured in the crash that took her son's life.
Matt Simeone, deputy inspector in the Nassau County Police Department's community affairs division, said that some 17,000 people die annually in alcohol-related crashes across the nation. Fuschillo said roughly 45,000 people were arrested for DWI in New York last year.
With varying levels of success, government has tried a variety of methods to reduce DWIs. They have included:
¥Seizing a drunk driver's car and selling it. Nassau County's seizure law was struck down in the courts, but was recently reworked to make it legal. The new law took effect in March.
¥Requiring repeat drunk drivers to have ignition interlock systems installed in their cars. The system forces drivers to pass Breathalyzer tests to start their cars. A Breathalyzer machine is attached to the car's ignition. If the driver passes, the car turns on. If the driver fails, it doesn't.
¥Requiring drunk drivers to undergo alcohol assessments, which are used to develop treatment programs for their substance abuse.
Simeone said the county police department is now developing a DWI education program that it hopes to bring to high school classrooms soon. He did not offer details about the program. Additionally, MADD and DEDICATEDD regularly offer DWI seminars in the schools.
Fuschillo said he planned to take the two DWI bills to members of the state Assembly next week. If both houses of the state Legislature pass the bills, Gov. George Pataki will probably sign them into law.
