Drunk Driving Policy

Through the years, The Century Council has worked extensively across the nation on anti-drunk driving efforts.

During the early 1990s we advocated for the passage of administrative license revocation (ALR) which provides swift and certain punishment for drunk drivers while making the roadways safer for other motorists. Currently, 41 states and the District of Columbia have ALR laws.

Additionally, we worked to pass zero tolerance laws across the nation. These laws prohibit a person under the minimum drinking age from drinking and driving with any measurable level of alcohol in their systems. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have zero tolerance laws.

Responding to a growing body of research that points to repeat offenders and hardcore drunk drivers as the source of a large and disproportionate share of highway crashes, in 1997 we created The National Hardcore Drunk Driver Project. The Project serves as a single, comprehensive resource to assist state legislators as well as highway safety officials, law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors, community activists and treatment professionals in developing programs to reduce hardcore drunk driving.

We define a hardcore drunk driver as someone who drives with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or above or who drives drunk repeatedly--as demonstrated by having more than one drunk driving arrest. These individuals are highly resistant to changing their behavior despite previous sanctions, treatment or education efforts.

We have always focused on comprehensive solutions to the nation’s drunk driving problem. In 2000, we teamed up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to advocate for the passage of comprehensive anti-drunk driving laws and programs including: stricter penalties for hardcore drunk drivers, a .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for all drivers, BAC education and public awareness efforts, and treatment and aftercare.

In 2006, we declared support for MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. In this effort, we have committed our support for the mandatory use of ignition interlock devices for hardcore offenders, the use of judicial discretion for first time offenders, and exploration of future technologies to prevent drunk driving.

Today, we focus our state and federal agendas on hardcore drunk driving. At the state level, we support the following legislative initiatives and elements of a comprehensive approach to drunk driving prevention:

• High BAC limits at .15 BAC and above
• Graduated penalties for repeat offenders
• Enhanced penalties for BAC test refusal
• Vehicle based sanctions such as ignition interlock for hardcore offenders
• Home confinement with electronic monitoring
• Pre-sentence investigations
• Individualized sanctions
• Mandatory alcohol assessments
• Treatment and aftercare
• Minimum 10 year lookback periods
• DWI tracking systems
• DWI courts
• Restriction of plea bargaining and diversion programs
• Comprehensive enforcement efforts such as blanket patrols
• Intensive monitoring, supervision and probation
• Dedicated detention facilities
• Staggered sentencing
• Self-sustaining anti drunk driving programs such as New York’s Stop-DWI program

At the Federal level, we have been a leader in the reauthorization of anti-drunk driving provisions in the nation’s highway bill. During previous reauthorizations, we have worked to secure provisions that provide incentive funding to states that pass hardcore drunk driving legislation, self-sustaining drunk driving programs, BAC education, and judicial education. The highway bill is up for reauthorization again in 2009.

For more information on these initiatives and our policy agenda, please contact our Government Relations department.

Based on our research, we believe that strong laws enabling swift identification, certain punishment and effective treatment are critical fundamental elements necessary to reduce the incidence of hardcore drunk driving and believe that these elements must be coordinated into a statewide system to be effective.