MADD, S.C. attorney general push amendments to DUI bill
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Families who are still grieving the loss of their loved ones at the hands of drunk drivers ed Attorney General Alan Wilson to ask for more DUI reform.
South Carolina has some of the deadliest roads and ranks third in the country for drunk driving fatalities.
Advocates against drunk driving are pushing for tougher penalties on top of changes to the law implemented last year.
Jachaei Cummings is a survivor of a drunk driver accident and said his best friend and career were taken from him.
“Me and my best friend played semi-professional basketball,” said Cummings.
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“I left the tournament. Next thing you know, we got hit by a drunk driver. My best friend lost his life and it wasn’t right. I ended up having to have 28 surgeries. My head was disconnected from my spinal cord.”
Moms Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D) and Wilson were among a floor full of people from across the state at the State House urging lawmakers to Senate Bill 52, which places stricter penalties on drunk drivers.
The bill aims at dash cam video, calling for it to be removed as a requirement for a DUI conviction.
“Law enforcement and prosecutors shouldn’t have to feel that they are walking across a minefield when they’re prosecuting a DUI case. And right now that’s what it is,” said South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
The new law would also build on changes made to the DUI bill last year that mandated any DUI conviction driver would have an ignition interlock device that requires a breathalyzer test before the car can be started.
The new amendment would require people who refuse to submit to the required chemical tests to have their driver’s licenses suspended for one year for a first offense, with increased suspensions if they re-offend.
The proposed bill also includes something called Bentley’s law.
This would also require someone who commits a felony DUI to pay to children if their parents are disabled or killed.
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