Va. targets DUIs with stricter drinking laws

Stricter drinking laws that target driving under the influence of alcohol were passed by the Virginia General Assembly last year, and have been in effect since July 1.

"The laws are intended to increase the criminal sanctions for repeat offenders," said Michael Way, director of the office of Judicial Affairs.

According to Way, the new law states that a person who is caught driving under the influence will receive a mandatory confinement of five days if his or her blood alcohol content is over 0.15, and 10 days if his or her BAC is over 0.2. These values were lowered from 0.2 for five days and 0.25 for 10 days.

More severe punishments are given for subsequent offences. According to Officer John Campbell of the JMU Police Department, an individual can be sentenced to 20 days in jail if a second DUI is issued within five years of their first offense, and 10 days for a second DUI issued within 10 years of their first offense. If a third DUI is issued within five years of their first two offenses, an individual can be sentenced to 180 days in jail. For a third DUI issued within ten years of the first two offenses, the person will have to stay in jail for 90 days.

Many law enforcement officials are hoping to see a change for the better.

"We hope [students] will be a little more responsible, like have a designated driver or use the cab services available," said Campbell. "We always like to see these laws a little stricter so we can keep people safer."

Although law enforcement would like to see students take more precaution, not all think the new laws will have an effect.

"I really don’t think [the laws] will have much of an effect on whether people drink or drive, because if a person is stupid enough to do it in the first place, they won’t think about it," sophomore Scott Brody said. "Or they might not even know about the new laws."

Sophomore Paul Wind said, "I don’t think it would have any more of an effect than it already does. When people drink and get drunk, their BAC is still not safe on any level."

Sophomore Lauren Sommer disagreed with Wind. "I think it would make a difference because there are stronger consequences, so people who are repeat offenders would think about what they’re doing before they do it," she said.