Drunk-Driving Test Loophole to Be Shut

Gov. George Deukmejian intends to sign a bill sending convicted drunk drivers to jail for 48 hours if, after their arrest, they refused to take a sobriety test, an Administration official said Thursday.

Backed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and law enforcement agencies, the measure was sent to the governor by the Assembly on a 78-0 vote Tuesday. It previously passed the Senate by a 31-3 vote.

The legislation was introduced by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) in a move designed to close a loophole for drunk drivers trying to escape conviction.

“It looks like a signer,” said an Administration source, who declined to be identified. “The governor is likely to sign that bill into law.”

Katz said that during the past three years, 100,000 drunk drivers, some of them acting on the advice of their attorneys, have refused to take the sobriety test.

Under current law, the sentence for a person convicted of drunk driving for the first time is two days in jail or a 90-day license suspension, with an exemption for going to and from work, and a $500 maximum fine.

State law also provides that if a suspected drunk driver refuses to take a blood, breath or urine test, his or her driver’s license automatically is suspended for six months on a first offense.

“The current scam is to refuse the test in hopes that the jury won’t convict,” Katz said. “And a recent Department of Motor Vehicles study found that a majority of offenders receiving license suspensions for refusal continued to drive.”

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for MADD called 1985 a “good” year in the Legislature, despite the defeat of a top-priority Senate bill to ban “happy hour” two-for-one drinks and other bar discount promotions.

“I would have to say it was not as good as we would have liked, but we have made progress,” said Oleta Lutz-Pierson, citing the passage of the Katz bill.