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Threshold for harsher DUI penalties would drop
Associated Press
Published April 26, 2005
For a driver facing a drunken-driving charge who has a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent or higher, the possible penalty would be more severe under a bill approved Monday by the Senate Transportation Committee.
The legal threshold for being considered too impaired to drive used to be a 0.10 percent blood-alcohol level. When lawmakers lowered it to 0.08 percent, they didn't lower the corresponding threshold for enhanced penalties for driving at double the legal level of impairment, so it remains 0.20 percent under current law.
The measure (SB 1642), approved unanimously by the committee, is a priority of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The enhanced penalties hit drunken drivers with bigger fines and more time behind bars. The bill also applies to boat operators.
Coley's widow announces she'll seek his House seat
The widow of Republican state Rep. David Coley, Marti Coley, said Monday she will seek his District 7 seat in a June 14 special election.
Rep. Coley, R-Marianna, who was an aide to House Speaker Allan Bense before his election last November, died of liver cancer March 25.
No one has said they will challenge Mrs. Coley. Former state Rep. Bev Kilmer, a Quincy Republican who gave up the seat last year to unsuccessfully challenge U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, said she initially intended to seek her old seat but dropped that plan in deference to Mrs. Coley and party unity.
[Last modified April 26, 2005, 01:04:06]
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