Fight Drunk Driving - Public Policy

The Century Council is dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking through education and promoting responsible decision making.

Our public policy department is responsible for researching current drunk driving and underage drinking prevention, countermeasures and developing policy initiatives for the organization. Our policy initiatives are implemented at the state and federal levels and are also made available as resources to the general public. Over the years we have worked alongside coalition partners in more than 30 states to pass effective legislation to reduce drunk driving and underage drinking. Additionally we have worked to improve our Federal drunk driving laws to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking.

We also work to involve elected officials across the country in programmatic efforts to stop drunk driving and underage drinking. Over the years more than 500 elected officials have teamed up with us to launch our prevention programs in elementary, middle and high schools with more than 2,200 events across the country. Read more about our program partners.

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 DUI 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.

Today, though we focus our state and federal agendas on hardcore drunk driving, The Century Council has a broader commitment than policy initiatives directed at these offenders only. We support the following legislative initiatives and elements of a comprehensive approach to drunk driving prevention.

• High BAC limits at .15 and above
• Graduated penalties for repeat offenders
• Enhanced penalties for BAC test refusal
• Vehicle-based sanctions
• Ignition Interlocks Facts
• Mandatory ignition interlocks for first time offenders at .15 BAC and above
• Mandatory ignition interlocks for repeat offenders
• Mandatory ignition interlocks for test refusers
• Judicial discretion regarding ignition interlocks for first offenders with BAC below .15 BAC
• Home confinement with electronic monitoring
• Court ordered alcohol assessment
• Treatment and aftercare
• Minimum 10 year look back periods
• DWI tracking systems
• DWI Courts
• Staggered sentencing
• Self-sustaining anti drunk driving programs
• Judicial education and training
• Restrictions on plea bargaining
• Prohibition of open containers in the vehicle
• .08 BAC as part of a comprehensive plan to fight drunk driving
• BAC education
• Graduated licensing

At the federal level, The Century Council has 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 anti drunk driving programs, BAC education, and judicial education.

The nation’s highway bill is being reauthorized again in 2009. Find out more about The Century Council's positions and the organizations that have joined with us.