Rep's Corner
Be Responsible This Holiday Season
By: STATE REPRESENTATIVE LYNN OLMAN
It is hard to believe that the holiday season is here once again. Local shopping centers are advertising holiday sales and mall parking lots are filled with cars. At home many are making plans for holiday gatherings. Which family do we spend the holidays with? What time is the company holiday party? When should we have our friends over for a dinner? What time is the school play? What will we plan for New Year’s Eve?
Of course with the holidays comes a few extra pounds as we enjoy traditional holiday dinners, deserts and a glass of champagne to celebrate the season. While it is frustrating to think of gaining a few pounds over the holiday season, most of us realize by now that getting uptight over the “holiday bulge” is as fruitless as getting frustrated about wrapping all of the holiday gifts. However, there is one thing that we need to get uptight about this holiday season--drinking and driving.
Many of us fail to realize that a few glasses of wine and some eggnog at the company party, drinks during dinner with friends or champagne on New Year’s Eve can add up to dangerous situations. While Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, it also marks the time of year when alcohol-related crashes and fatalities increase.
In 1998, there were 1,422 traffic deaths in Ohio. Four hundred sixty-four or 32.6 percent of those were alcohol related. Ohio spent more than $4 billion on alcohol-related crashes in 1998. Of this amount, $2.8 million was spent on fatal alcohol-related crashes. In an effort to combat such statistics, the Ohio General Assembly is considering legislation to strengthen Ohio’s drunk driving laws.
Legislation currently pending in the legislature includes:
• Senate Bill 176, sponsored by Senator Scott Oleslager (R-Canton), would find those who do not submit to a Breathalyzer test as guilty. Currently, nearly 35 percent of individuals pulled over for suspected drunk driving do not submit to a Breathalyzer test.
• House Bill 361, sponsored by Rep. Rex Damschroder, would establish reduced, prohibited concentrations of alcohol in a person’s blood, breath, or urine for persons with a previous state or local OMVI offense within six years. For example, a person with one prior OMVI offense in a six year period would be deemed a repeat offender if their BAC was .02 or higher. H.B. 361 has been deemed a “zero” tolerance approach to drunk driving and is currently pending in the House Transportation and Public Safety Committee.
In an effort to decrease the amount of alcohol-related crashes and fatalities in Ohio, the legislature has worked to implement some new DUI laws.
New DUI laws include:
• House Bill 80, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls), requires that a person who commits a third state or local operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVI) offense within a six year period will forfeit his or her vehicle to the state. The law went into effect on June 8, 2000.
• Senate Bill 22, sponsored by Senator Bruce Johnson (R-Columbus), increases the penalties for a person who commits a state OMVI violation and has a concentration of .17 BAC or higher. The law went into effect on May 17, 2000.
Although alcohol-related incidents have decreased in Ohio and throughout the nation in the recent decade, we should not become complacent on this issue. Still an estimated 44 Americans are killed every day in drunk driving crashes. This is more than 300 people per week—the equivalent of a jetliner crash. For the sake of the individuals who have died, and for ourselves, we need to continue to take a tough stance on drunk driving.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety has established December 15 as Lights on for Life Day. By turning on your car headlights during daytime driving, you will join those who will be remembering the 16,000 deaths and 305,000 people injured each year because of impaired drivers.
As we celebrate this holiday season, I encourage each of you to exercise caution when attending holiday functions. Please think when you drink and please don’t drink and drive this holiday season. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!
If you have any questions regarding this or any other state issue, please do not hesitate to contact my office at State Representative Lynn Olman, 77 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43266-0306 or call (614) 466-1731.
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