Drunk Driving DUI Law

Rep. Harold Wright is proposing change to Oklahoma’s drunk driving laws.

“The bottom line is we need to crack down on long-term, repeat offenders who are out there and could hurt someone else,” said Wright, R-Weatherford. “By making some simple, common-sense changes to Oklahoma law, we could save lives in the future.”

He says it starts with cracking down on long-term, repeat offenders whom, because of legal loopholes, are allowed to stay on the roads much longer.

Rep. Wright wants to see these numbers go down across the state by modifying the current DUI laws, which he says, are in need of change.

“If someone is caught with a DUI and their sentence is deferred, then once that sentence is deferred and they get past that point, they basically cannot be charged with a felony charge,” said Wright.

He wants to make it possible for a prosecutor to charge that person with a felony even if it’s their second offense.

Another problem, Jenkins says, is with sentencing repeat DUI offenders.

“In Oklahoma, it’s hard to recognize that repeat DUI offense when a repeat DUI could be in a very small municipality and it doesn’t go through a registered court system.”

One of two state laws recently enacted to strengthen penalties for DUI offenders includes an increase in the prison sentence from seven years to 10 years for a repeat DUI offender. A third-time offender will soon face 20 years in jail, rather than 10 years. That law becomes effective Nov. 1st.

Another law became effective in July. It states anyone caught drinking and driving with a child in the car will be charged with a felony.

Meantime, Rep. Wright is calling for a legislative study to make way for an eventual bill to be introduced in the next legislative session.

In Tulsa this year there have been eight DUI deaths. Police say in September they made 90 more DUI arrests compared to the same month last year.

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