House Bill 769 by Mark Wright was considered by the Louisiana House Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday, its second committee in the path to passage.
Despite more than a half hour of emotional testimony by victims and survivors of DWI’s about the loss of their loved ones, the Committee decided to defer the bill for a week to consider amendments that would lessen penalties for offenders.
The bill would make changes adopted by 36 other states and the District of Columbia when it comes to shaping behaviors around drunk driving. Those states have gotten serious about preventing DWI related deaths by focusing on reforming defendant behaviors around drinking and driving on their first offense and regulating vendors who provide technology that stops drunk drivers from starting their vehicles.
Louisiana has a higher rate of repeat offenses than many other states. Last year DWI’s in Louisiana increased by 8.9% from 2020. And in 2020, more than 40 percent of the motor vehicle crashes in Louisiana were alcohol-related. These alcohol-related crashes resulted in 332 fatalities. All of them were preventable.
The bill is supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Responsibility.org, The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Students Against Destructive Decisions, and Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving.
