I posted yesterday about the Washington State legislature recently refusing to cave in to the Governor and others interested in resurrecting DUI roadblocks found to be illegal by the state supreme court. In today’s news, that same legislature again balked at further insanities in the "War on Drunk Driving".
Bill Proposes Yellow License Plates for DUI Drivers
Olympia, WA. Feb. 12 — Sen. Mike Carrell wants everyone on the road to know who’s been caught driving drunk.
He’s sponsoring a bill that would require people convicted of drunken driving to put fluorescent-yellow license plates on their cars for one year — once their driving privileges have been restored…
Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Oregon have similar requirements for DUI offenders.
A few days later:
DUI Bill Dies, No Doubt From Embarrassment
Olympia, WA. Feb. 15 — Finally, common sense prevails in dealing with the state’s laws on driving under the influence of liquor and drugs.
A bill steeped in election-year, get-tough-on-crime grandstanding has quietly gone to the burial ground for bad bills in the state Legislature. It failed to make it out of the Senate Transportation Committee before Tuesday’s deadline…
The gaudy plates would theoretically warn the motoring public and law enforcement that someone convicted of DUI is on the road, even though that person already has jumped through the hoops demanded by tough state laws and has had driving privileges restored.
That embarrassment factor seems like piling on when DUI offenders can already face jail time, even if for a day, higher insurance rates, mandatory counseling and suspended or restricted driving privileges.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all politicians had such common sense and respect for their citizens?
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