Fine? What fine?

Byline: The Register-Guard

Supposedly, it doesn't pay to drink and drive - but it doesn't cost much, either. Oregon law enforcement officers arrest more than 25,000 motorists every year for drunken driving, but more than 75 percent of them get away with not paying their court-assessed fines.

Some deterrent that is, not to mention the hit to the state treasury. The unpaid penalties have cost the state about $40 million just over the past three years. That's a terrible additional blow to the victims of drunk drivers.

More than 160 people are killed and about 2,000 are injured in alcohol-related crashes every year in Oregon.

Forty-four percent of all Oregon traffic fatalities in 2004 were alcohol-related. The national average is 39 percent.

A drunken driving conviction - called a DUII for driving under the influence of intoxicants - is usually a Class A misdemeanor that carries a range of penalties. A person convicted of a DUII for the first time is typically sentenced to a period of probation with conditions that include: between two and 20 days jail; a $1,000 fine; approximately $300 in fees and assessments; a one-year driver's license suspension; an alcohol/drug evaluation and treatment; and attendance at a class where victims describe the effects of drunken driving accidents on their lives.

For the majority of first offenders who are sentenced to probation, the fine is the most tangible consequence of the conviction. With three out of four DUII offenders blowing off their fines, the convictions aren't having much of an impact. That's going to be a factor in the number of repeat offenders, and repeat offenders are going to be a factor in the number of fatalities.

Budget restrictions in the state court system are the main reason for the high rate of uncollected fines. People move, lose jobs or just stop making payments, and the state doesn't have the resources to track them down.

That shouldn't be a particularly difficult problem to solve, especially given the revenue the state stands to gain.

The Legislature should authorize the state courts to garnish wages and confiscate the tax refunds of convicted drunken drivers who've welched on their fine payments.

Some of the recaptured fine revenue could be used to pay for enhanced enforcement. One-tenth of the outstanding $40 million would be enough to hire, train and equip a half-dozen or more new state troopers.

Drunken driving is a serious, dangerous crime. It is difficult to deter despite the Legislature's best efforts to enact serious consequences for a conviction, including making repeat offenses a felony with mandatory prison time.

Failing to collect fines for DUII convictions has so many negative ramifications and sends such a terrible message, it would be irresponsible for state officials to allow the current deplorable situation to continue.