PHOENIX - Students kicking off spring break with cocktails will have another reason to reconsider getting behind the wheel when stiffer penalties for drunken driving kick in tomorrow.
State lawmakers hope that bigger fines will dissuade drunks from taking to the road, and save the state money by reducing the 9,000 Arizonans jailed for DUI each year.
The new fines are tacked onto the current ones, raising the cost of a first-time DUI from $450 to $950. Drivers convicted of extreme DUI for having a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or above will now pay $1,700 instead of $700.
Judges can waive DUI fines, but the new fines would be exempt from that option.
Repeat offenders would pay even more, with penalties rising from $1,150 to $2,400 for a second DUI conviction.
Legislators joined members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving at a press conference at the state capital yesterday to show their support of the new fines, which were worked out during the Legislature's special session on the state prison crisis earlier this year.
"The state of Arizona is not a place where you want to drink and drive," said Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Safford. "We are hoping to have a marked difference in the future of our state."
Dissuading people from driving drunk also has financial benefits, Konopnicki said, since the incarceration of drunken drivers costs the state $60 million annually.
The DUI penalties have gone unchanged since 1982, and the low cost of getting caught did not go far enough to convince drunken drivers to stay off the road, said Rep. Ted Downing, D-Tucson.
"It used to be ... a higher fine to drive 20 miles over the speed limit than it was to drive under the influence. That is not a way to keep our highways safe," Downing said, who added that he thinks the new penalties will be an effective deterrent.
"If you have a habit of drinking and driving, it's time to rethink that habit," Downing said. "It's time for people to rearrange their lives to keep our roads safe."
Studying the high DUI incarceration numbers in state prisons proved that it was time for a change, Konopnicki said.
"As we started looking at why we are incarcerating people, it became obvious that we are not getting the message out on DUIs," Konopnicki said.
One in six fatalities in Arizona is DUI-related, Konopnicki said.
The first $500,000 in fines collected after the new penalties take effect will fund a pilot program to offer counseling to repeat DUI offenders.
New Jersey and Utah have both recently increased their fines and have seen extreme dips in the number of DUI convictions, Konopnicki said.