October 10, 2008
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ACT PROHIBITING OPEN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTAINERS IN MOTOR VEHICLES



Testimony by Representative Tom Reynolds
Transportation Committee

S.B. 294, AN ACT PROHIBITING OPEN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTAINERS IN MOTOR VEHICLES

S.B. 296, AN ACT CONCERNING THE OFFENSE OF DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE AND IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICES

S.B. 297, AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND ADMINISTRATIVE PER SE PROCEDURES AND VIOLATIONS

Senator DeFronzo, Representative Guerrera, and distinguished members of the Transportation Committee, I am pleased to testify in support of three drunk driving bills before you today.

National Trends

For many years, there was much progress towards reducing drunk driving deaths in Connecticut and across the nation.  From 1980 and into the 1990’s alcohol-related automobile accidents declined considerably across the country.  This progress was largely the result of tougher drunk driving laws, more aggressive enforcement, and education, prevention and advocacy efforts by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).  Unfortunately, this decline has come to a screeching halt.  Rates of drunk driving deaths have stagnated nationally and increased in Connecticut.

We are experiencing a growing sense of complacency on this issue among public policy makers and the general public.  This complacency carries deadly consequences for our state and nation, yet this public health crisis continues with an inadequate state and national response.

Alcohol-related traffic deaths in our nation are at their highest level ever since 1992.  In 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes in the U.S.—an average of one every 30 minutes.  Impaired driving is the most frequently committed violent crime in our nation. 

In 2002, surveys estimate that Americans took over 159 million alcohol-impaired driving trips, compared with only 116 million in 1997.  Approximately 1.4 million drivers were arrested in 2004 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This is an arrest rate of 1 for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States.  The estimated cost to society resulting from alcohol-related crashes is more than $50B per year.

State Trends

The trends in Connecticut are even more disturbing.  In 2006 there were 129 deaths as a result of alcohol-related crashes—an increase of more than 11% over the previous year—and there were over 1,300 injuries.  Connecticut is one of only 15 states in which greater than one-third of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related—placing the state among the so-called “Fatal 15.”

In Connecticut 36.2% of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related in 2006 and of the eight other states that had a higher percentage only one state had a larger one-year increase than Connecticut.

DUI Reform Working Group

In 2006 then Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan convened a working group to develop a series of recommendations to strengthen Connecticut’s drunk driving laws.  This report, titled The Sobering Truth, was a call to arms and outlined a series of superb recommendations for reform.  Regrettably, the state’s response was woefully inadequate.

In 2007 I joined Senator DeFronzo and many of my colleagues in forming a 40-member DUI Reform Working Group to identify a very targeted set of legislative priorities for the 2008 session.  The group included many legislators, the Departments of Motor Vehicles, Transportation, and Public Safety, the offices of the Attorney General and Chief State’s Attorney, the State Police, MADD, the Connecticut Police Chiefs’ Association, and former Lt. Gov. Sullivan.  I am particularly grateful to Senators DeFronzo, Stillman and Prague for their leadership of the working group’s subcommittees.

The working group agreed to advance three legislative proposals this session, which were referenced at the beginning of my testimony and unveiled at a press conference last week.  During this event the legislative package was endorsed by the Co-Chairs and Ranking Members of the Transportation Committee, Co-Chairs of the Public Safety Committee, the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Attorney General, the Commissioner of DMV, and MADD.

Open Container

S.B. 294 makes it illegal for anyone to possess an open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle while the vehicle is on a Connecticut highway.  43 states and the District of Columbia have open container laws in some form.  Connecticut is the only northeastern state and only one of seven states without an open container law.

Most state residents are shocked to learn that in Connecticut it is legal to party in your car with alcohol.  They are also surprised to learn that Connecticut drivers can operate a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol within arms reach.

Studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy study found that states without open container laws experienced greater proportions of alcohol-related fatal motor vehicle crashes than states with one.

Federal law requires states to adopt an open container law because of growing evidence of the effectiveness of such laws.  States that fail to do so are penalized with a diversion of a percentage of federal highway construction funds to their highway safety programs.  As a result of Connecticut’s failure to comply with this law over $27 million of federal highway dollars have been transferred, including an estimated $5.8 million this year.  The bill before you is federally compliant and contains reasonable exceptions.

Ignition Interlock

S.B. 296 modifies the driver’s license suspension penalties for the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).  (There are separate suspension penalties under the administrative per se law.)  Under current law an ignition interlock is only an option for some repeat offenders.

The bill mandates the use of ignition interlocks for most convicted drunk drivers.  These devices are designed to prevent a person from driving when they detect a pre-set blood-alcohol level in the driver’s breath sample.

Connecticut has one of the weakest ignition interlock laws in the country.  Those states that mandate ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers are experiencing unprecedented declines in alcohol-related fatalities on their highways.

Administrative Per Se

S.B. 297 makes several changes to strengthen the existing criminal and administrative per se laws.  A police officer who has arrested someone for DUI can request the person to submit to a blood, breath, or urine test.  If the person refuses to take the test or takes the test and the results reveal an elevated blood alcohol content, the driver is subject to an administrative license suspension or  “administrative per se.”  This suspension operates independently of the procedures for prosecuting the accused person on the criminal charge.

The bill makes changes in the administrative per se process, the determination of prior offense, the definition of elevated BAC for commercial motor vehicle operators, the issues to be addressed in a hearing, and several other changes.

Conclusion

The attached OLR report provides further explanation of these three bills.

These proposals are reasonable and long overdue.  They are strategically focused.  They are models proven effective in other states.  And the fiscal impacts are minimal.

Thank you for your consideration of these important bills.  The adoption of these bills is the next major step Connecticut must take to enhance its arsenal of drunk driving laws.

Every drunk driving death is a preventable crime.  The time for complacency is over.  The time for legislative and gubernatorial leadership is now.

Drunk driving is a crime. More importantly, it is not a victimless crime. Nearly 17,000 Americans are killed and more than 700,000 are injured each year in alcohol related traffic crashes .

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