LAWMAKERS REACH COMPROMISE ON TOUGHER DRUNK-DRIVING LAW
With a deadline hours away and $2 million
in federal highway money at risk, state legislators reached
a compromise yesterday on a tougher drunken-driving
law.
The so-called per se law means that drivers
with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or greater will be deemed
legally impaired in Massachusetts.
Under the old law, prosecutors had to prove at trial that
the driver was legally drunk, even if breathalyzer
tests showed a blood-alcohol level of .08 or more. Massachusetts
was the only state without such a law.
For the state to qualify for an incentive
grant of approximately $2 million from the US Department of
Transportation, the legislation had to be signed into law
by midnight last
night.
Enactment of the new law will also protect
future federal highway assistance that is projected to be
$5.4 million next year and as much as $21.6 million by 2007.
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey signed the
bill early last evening. Governor Mitt Romney was traveling
to the Czech Republic,
making Healey the acting governor.
Representative James E. Vallee,
a Franklin Democrat and House chairman of the Criminal Justice
Committee, while noting the increased funding, stressed the
law's impact on public safety.
"The greater concern is reducing the
number of alcohol-related traffic deaths in the Commonwealth,"
he said.
The legislation also doubles the fine for
driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol from
$125 to $250 and increases from 120 days to 180 days the time
that a driver's license can be suspended for refusing to take
a breathalyzer test.
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