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Big Changes to DUI Laws

Once again, the political football known as Kansas DUI Law was kicked around pretty hard by the state legislature. And, once again, the law has gotten stricter and harsher. Some of the changes include enhanced penalties for drivers who blow over a .150. If a person blows over a .150 and is convicted of a DUI, or loses his license through the administrative process, the person’s license is suspended for one year on the first occurrence, followed by one year of driving with an ignition interlock. On the second occurrence it is one year of suspension followed by 2 years of ignition interlock.

The driver’s license penalty has also been increased for persons who refuse a breath or blood test. On the first occurence of a refusal the person’s license is suspended for one year, followed by one year of restriction to only driving a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device.

The legislature has also mandated now that, on a second or subsequent DUI conviction that the court shall order each vehicle owned or leased by the person to be equipped with an ignition interlock device or be impounded or immobilized for 2 years. It doesn’t matter whether having your car impounded for 2 years will make you or someone else in your family lose employment, lose the ability to go to school or lose the ability to obtain medical care. It is not all bad, though, the law does say you are allowed to remove your personal possessions and property from the car before it gets taken away.

Whenever a person is subject to a restriction to an ignition interlock device the person must submit proof that he or she complied with the full term of the interlock requirement before the license can be reinstated.

I blogged earlier about the fact that the law would allow people who are suspended for DUI’s to obtain a moped license. Well, that is over now.

Another interesting thing is that police can now pull over people under the age of 18 if they don’t have a seatbelt on. The law has always been that everyone must have a seatbelt on. However, law enforcement was not allowed to pull someone over solely for not having a belt on. Now, for those under 18, police can do so. I do not understand how an officer is going to know that the person is under 18 without it being purely guesswork, but we’ll see how that works out.

It seems that each year the legislature amends the Kansas DUI Laws to make them harsher (and more confusing). It is getting to the point where an attorney must focus on this area of the law or he or she seriously risks committing malpractice and/or giving clients bad advice. It would be interesting to look at the DUI and DUI fatality statistics in Kansas for the past 10 years. My understanding is that, even though the laws have gotten progressively harsher, especially against those under 21, that the number of DUI cases and DUI fatalities has not gone down. In other words, I am not convinced that continually increasing penalties is having any effect. Minors continue to consume alcohol, people of all ages continue to drive under the influence, they drive while suspended, and they subvert ignition interlock devices. All of the court ordered treatment won’t make someone stop drinking unless he or she really wants to. I think the DUI issue needs to be addressed in other ways. Until driving drunk becomes socially unacceptable in Kansas, and until people are educated in an honest way about the dangers of drunk driving, and maybe until there are alternative means of transportation (can you even get a taxi anywhere in Kansas?), there will be DUI cases. Until then, apparently, we are going to fill the jail cells and impoundment lots with people accused of drinking and driving, many of whom are convicted solely based on a machine that is inherently flawed.

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