Jindal announces package of five bills cracking down on DWIs

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune
March 25, 2010, 6:45PM

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday he will endorse five bills aimed at toughening the state's drunken-driving laws when the annual legislative session begins Monday.

The five bills cover a range of topics from prohibiting a convicted drunken driver from "premature removal" of an ignition interlock device to requiring school bus drivers to report DWI arrests to their supervisors before reporting to their next shift or face disciplinary action.

"We have a duty to protect our communities and roads so our families can raise their children in a safe environment," Jindal said in a news release. "These new initiatives will crack down on reckless drunk drivers and make our roads safer for our families."

Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said the bills in the package have not been filed in advance of the session but will be shortly after it gets under way. However, some of the concepts in the Jindal package have already been filed as bills by other lawmakers.

Plotkin said the administration is reviewing similar bills by other sponsors. The five bills backed by the administration also have been approved by Jindal's Task Force on DWI and Vehicular Homicide.

Jindal said that Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, will sponsor a bill that will require the Office of Motor Vehicles to suspend a driver's license for an unspecified period when the driver has prematurely removed the ignition interlock device that prevents a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver's breath. The license can be reinstated when the office receives proof the device has been reactivated, but the driver will not get credit for the time it was not hooked up.

Rep. Rickey Hardy, D-Lafayette, a former Lafayette Parish School Board member, will carry the school bus driver bill, Jindal said.

If the driver does not report the DWI citation by the start of the next shift or within 24 hours, it "will result in termination of the bus driver in cases where they are serving a probationary term" under the state's tenure laws, Jindal said. For tenured bus drivers who do not report a DWI, Jindal said, a tenure hearing will be held that can result in suspension or dismissal.

Rep. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan, will sponsor a bill to mandate a two-year license suspension for a DWI offender who is involved in an accident and causes the death of a fetus and a second bill to require DWI offenders who have had their licenses reinstated, but must still have the interlock device, to have the license coded so if stopped, police will know the device is required.

"Some offenders are driving the vehicles of family members or other individuals who are not required to have an interlock device installed," Jindal said. "This legislation closes a gap in current law and makes it much more unlikely that repeat offenders will illegally operate any vehicle under the influence because they will have a much better chance of being caught."

Sen. Willie Mount, D-Lake Charles, will sponsor a bill that will redistribute the way money from the sale of vehicles seized from third- and fourth-time DWI offenders is shared among police, prosecutors and an insurance department panel that studies ways to reduce DWIs.