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Rochester Against Intoxicated Driving


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Updated 11/19/2008

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New DWI Laws now in effect

Two new D.W.I. laws went into effect Wednesday, November 1, 2006 that added stiffer penalties for repeat offenders. The new laws elevate D.W.I. charges against repeat offenders from 2nd-degree vehicular manslaughter to 1st-degree and the maximum prison time doubles to as many as 15 years behind bars.

The D.A.'s office says drunk driving crashes each year kill almost as many people who are killed with guns.

The new law getting all the media coverage around the state is named after Bill Leaf and Brandi Woods, two victims of drunken drivers. The law increases punishment for repeat D.W.I. offenders.

If a drunk driver causes a fatal accident the driver can be charged with vehicular manslaughter in the 1st degree, if previously convicted of D.W.I. within the past ten years.

The second new law states the driver can be charged with 1st-degree manslaughter if he or she has two or more previous D.W.I. convictions within the past five years, or three or more within the last ten years. District Attorney Michael Green says the intent of the laws is good.

"People who drink to the point where they are intoxicated drivers and kill people should be prosecuted seriously. And these laws try and raise the penalties for that type of conduct if someone has a prior conviction..." said Green

Anti- D.W.I. advocates hope the new laws will help get the message across to people who drink and drive. Pete Navratil is co-chair of R.A.I.D., Rochester Against Intoxicated Driving. His mother was killed in a fiery drunk driving crash in 2002.

"They will have more tools in the arsenal for judges to use to put away offenders for a longer period of time," said Pete Navratil, of Rochester Against Intoxicated Driving.

Source: 10 NBC

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