A state lawmakers wants to make sure all of a person’s arrests for drunken driving are considered together, regardless of what type of vehicle they were operating at the time.
State Rep. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) says current state law tracks Operating While Intoxicated arrests separately for offenses involving cars, snowmobiles, and boats. “Essentially, you could have a first offense intoxicated boating, intoxicated snowmobiling, intoxicated ATV, intoxicated use of a motor vehicle…and none of them would actually count as a repeat offense,” he says.
The De Pere Republican is proposing a bill that would allow prosecutors to consider all of those offenses when charging someone with an OWI. It would also carry over restrictions on operating a vehicle to all types of vehicles, so a conviction for driving a car while drunk would also keep someone from operating a snowmobile.
Jacque says the goal is to hold repeat offenders accountable, no matter what they were driving at the time of the offense.
Contributed by Mike Kemmeter, WHBY