Panels advance tougher DWI bills

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 3, 2009 - Page: 4A

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Drivers who refuse to take a Breathalyzer test could lose their driver’s licenses for four years under legislation that cleared a Senate committee Tuesday.

House Bill 445 is part of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s legislative package.

Camille Conaway, a policy adviser to the governor, told the Senate Committee on Judiciary B the objective is to protect drivers rather than to be punitive.

State Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, expressed concern about the length of the proposed driver’s license suspension.

He questioned whether it is “too much.”

Under current law, drivers who refuse a Breathalyzer test for the first time face losing their licenses for six months. If they take the test and fail, their licenses can be suspended for two years.

HB445 would suspend a license for two years the first time a driver refuses to take a Breathalyzer test. A subsequent refusal would strip a driver’s license for four years.

“We’re trying to give incentive for people to cooperate,” said state Rep. Damon Baldone, D-Houma and the bill’s sponsor.

Mona Gary, of Baton Rouge, showed the committee a picture of her daughter Grace.

Eight-year-old Grace Gary was killed on Palm Sunday last year when an alleged drunken driver crashed into her family’s van on Interstate 10 near LaPlace.

“What happened to our family was not an accident but rather a crime,” Mona Gary said.

State Police Col. Mike Edmonson said lawyers tell drivers not to take the Breathalyzer test if they have been drinking.

Martiny initially wanted to bump the driver’s license suspension to one year on a first refusal. He suggested a two-year suspension on a subsequent refusal.