Drunk Drivers
Ray Chavira, board member of the Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, has his heart in the right place, but he is way off the mark in how to curb drunk driving. His letter (May 25) does not provide answers to getting drunks off the road.
I have been a Los Angeles Police Department officer for 21 years, and I know what it takes to eliminate this tragedy, or at least to minimize it. Here’s my five-point plan:
- Impound the drunk driver’s vehicle for 30 days, for the first offense, six months for the second offense--automatically!
- Automatic 90 days in jail (no plea bargains, no early outs) for the first offense; automatic one year for the second offense.
- An additional 90-day sentence for anyone who refuses a chemical test.
- Automatic one-year sentence (at least) for any drunk driver who causes a serious injury.
- Extra jail time for drunk drivers who register .10 or over on the chemical test. One month extra for each point over .10.
Sound too harsh? Not really, when you consider that nothing else has worked in over 40 years in keeping drunks off the road. No social program has worked, or ever will work!
Only one thing will work--get tough on drunk drivers!
SGT. ROGER W. FERGUSON
Reseda
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