Rep. Shields and Rep. Greenlick
Pass Common-Sense
Drunk Driving Bill
HB 2774-A would curb drunk driving
without adding more jail or prison beds.
Salem, Oregon - May 23, 2007.
State Representatives Chip Shields (D-N/NE Portland) and Mitch Greenlick (D-NW Portland) recently carried the innovative drunk driving bill HB 2774-A to unanimous passage on the Oregon House floor.
The bill, which is scheduled for a hearing and possible vote in the Oregon Senate on May 29, strengthens the state's ignition interlock statutes. Ignition interlocks require drivers to blow into a valve to start their car; the car will not start if the driver's breath showed even small amounts of alcohol.
HB 2774-A requires that a person convicted of DUII use an ignition interlock device for one year after their driving priveledges have been reinstated following their first conviction. The idea is that one conviction equals one year of using an ignition interlock device; a second conviction means two years of using the device. The cost to the offender is about $80 per month, and accomodations can be made for indigent offenders.
"One of the great things about ignition interlocks is that they make it more difficult to drive drunk, but they also allow offenders to maintain the professional and social aspects of their lives, like driving to work," said Shields.
Greenlick added, "It places the cost sqaurely where it belongs: on the offender, not on the general public through more jail and prison beds."
Shields is a social worker specializing in drug and alcohol treatment. He founded Better People, an organization that helps former offenders and recovering addicts change their behavior and become productive members of society. Greenlick was director of the Oregon Health & Science University's National Substance Abuse Clinical Trials Center.
For further information regarding HB 2774-A, including its progress in the Senate, or to track other bills sponsored by Rep. Shields, visit his website at www.leg.state.or.us/shieldsc.
###
|