Senator Calls For More Effective DUI Penalties

Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Hobart, says the state must “get real” regarding penalties for drunk driving. This comes after a Washington woman, Susan West, arrested five times for drunk driving and sent to prison for killing a Sammamish mother of two in 1997, has netted her sixth DUI arrest in Bellevue. She was also driving with a suspended license.

“The problem stems from the idealist belief that we can expect responsible behavior from the chronically irresponsible,” said Pflug, outraged at the senseless death in her district and again at West’s latest offense. “Last session we passed a bill that makes five DUI convictions in 10 years a felony. Not only is that a ridiculous number of “second” chances, it would do nothing in the case of Susan West. Her earliest convictions were more than 10 years ago and, therefore, wouldn’t have counted! We need to close these loopholes.”

Pflug said that in 2005 Senate Republicans proposed a measure, dubbed the “Three Strikes Bill,” that would have resulted in an automatic felony conviction for anyone convicted of DUI with two or more prior offenses within 7 years. This would have done more to shut down repeat DUI offenders by getting them off the street – and keeping them off. Unfortunately, majority Democrats in the Senate would not give the bill a hearing. Pflug pledged to continue her fight for stiffer felony DUI and vehicular homicide DUI laws with no chance of early release.

As the Senator urged this new legislation this week, yet another vehicular homicide occurred in her district that allegedly involves DUI. Wednesday, a 38-year-old man was arrested after his car hit and killed a 3-year-old boy on SE 240 in Maple Valley.

“By far, most DUI offenders reform after just one conviction,” said Pflug. “It’s the exceptional cases, like Susan West, who do most of the damage. We cannot afford to deny that people like this exist.”

In 1997, West, with her 4-year-old son in the back seat, slammed her minivan into Sammamish resident Mary Johnsen, who was walking hand-in-hand with her husband along a road near Issaquah. West sped away, but was arrested in a grocery store parking lot. She had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit. That was her fifth arrest for DUI.

"Some people cannot be kept out of a car by suspended licenses. That assumes a degree of compliance with the law.” Pflug said. “Some offenders can only be stopped by being in jail.”

“Hopefully, this latest incident will jolt the legislature into reality. Surely law-abiding people, like Mary Johnson, have rights, too! How many more victims must Susan West have before we lock her up for good?”

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