Published on: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

By Brian Hooks

If you drink and drive, or text and drive, beware of new laws that take effect this week.

New bills passed by the state legislature make provisions including a mandatory one-year suspension of a driver’s license for anyone convicted twice of the state’s DUI laws, no DUI offender can receive a Probation Before Judgment (PBJ) more than once in a 10-year period, fines and incarcerations for those who violate a driver’s license alcohol restriction, and the criminalization of providing alcohol to minors.

“The O’Malley Administration is committed to closing the legal loopholes through which drunk drivers too often escape,” Brown said. “Drunk driving is preventable and if you choose to break the law and take lives in your hands, we are providing the necessary tools to our law enforcement officers and judges to ensure that you cannot and will not do it again.”

Police in Maryland arrest 24,000 people annually for impaired driving, according George Johnson IV, vice president of Maryland Chiefs of Police Association. “A large percentage of these lawbreakers are repeat offenders,” Johnson said in a press release. Johnson also mentioned an increase in impaired driving cases involving minors.

Out of the 592 traffic deaths in Maryland from 2008, 152 were alcohol-related. But a seven-year survey conducted by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health showed a considerable drop in state drivers who got behind the wheel after drinking. More than 13 percent of people reported having driven after several drinks within the past month in 2003, whereas 7.5 percent reported doing so in 2009.

The study by Dr. Kenneth Beck concludes that Maryland drivers find police efforts to catch impaired drivers are more aggressive than the punishments set forth by the legal system. “The majority of the public still is opposed to the practice of permitting a [PBJ] plea to be used as a means of downgrading or even eliminating a drunk driving conviction from appearing on a driver’s record,” Beck said in the study.

The survey also showed a significant increase in cell phone usage, with 62 percent reporting they had used a cell phone while driving at least once in the past 30 days. Gov. Martin O’Malley signed legislation in May that bans text messaging by drivers. Anyone caught violating the law will be subject to a fine of up to $500. Texting behind the wheel will be a primary violation, meaning officers can pull over anyone they see using a wireless device to text while driving.

For more information on Maryland’s impaired driving initiatives, visit www.choosesafetyforlife.com. For the University of Maryland survey, visit www.dpch.umd.edu/research/Surveillance.pdf.

NEW STATE LAWS

DUI LAWS: Mandatory one-year suspension of a driver’s license for anyone convicted twice of the state’s DUI laws

No DUI offender can receive a Probation Before Judgment (PBJ) more than once in a 10-year period, fines and incarcerations for those who violate a driver’s license alcohol restriction, and the criminalization of providing alcohol to minors.

TEXTING LAW: Anyone caught writing, sending or viewing text messages while driving will be subject to a fine up of  to $500.