7 April 2005

Governor signs bill to toughen DUI laws

Cracking down on repeat DUI offenders, Governor Kathleen Sebelius today signed into law a bill that will allow more of a violator’s past offenses be taken into account by judges.

“Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol puts every other person on the road at risk of injury or death. Almost half of all traffic deaths in Kansas are alcohol-related. We need to crack down on offenders, particularly repeat offenders, and get them off the road,” Governor Sebelius said.

SB 148 allows the consideration of DUI diversion agreements, test refusals, test failures, or alcohol or drug-related convictions for purposes of revoking an offender’s driver’s license regardless of the when they occurred. Previously the law limited consideration of those factors to only those that happened during the preceding five years.