RUNNER INTRODUCES BILL AB 187 WOULD INCREASE DUI PENALTIES.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Drunk drivers would face stiffer fines under legislation proposed by Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster.

Runner's bill would raise fines to account for inflation over the last two decades and impose higher fines for motorists with repeated drunk-driving convictions.

``It is going to hit people who drink and drive in the pocketbook,'' said Betty Sorrell, a representative of Antelope Valley Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which supports the proposal.

Under Runner's legislation, first-time drunk drivers' fines would rise to a minimum $500, and repeat offenders' fines would go to a minimum $750 to $2,500, up from $390 right now.

Those penalties are for simple drunk driving. Drunk drivers who cause crashes that injure someone would face stiffer penalties.

California's fines for drunk driving were set in 1982, said Runner. After dropping in the 1980s and 1990s, drunk-driver offenses increased over the last three years, she said.

``Our penalties have not changed over the last 20 years,'' she said.

Runner's legislation, Assembly Bill 187, would also double the standard fine for ``enhanced DUIs'' - on motorists whose blood-alcohol level is 0.15 percent or higher. State law says a motorist is presumed to be driving under the influence of alcohol at 0.08 percent.

The enhanced-DUI fine would be a minimum of $1,000 for a first-time offender and increase to $5,000 for a fourth conviction.

First-time drunk drivers now face a fine of at least $390 and no more than $1,000, plus at least two days in jail and possible driver's license suspension of 90 days.

Repeat drunk drivers face the same fine but a jail sentence of at least 10 days and mandatory license suspension, or four days in jail plus completion of a drunk-driving treatment program.

Three-time repeat offenders face four months in jail, or one month if they attend a drunk-driving treatment program for 30 months.

Accompanying Runner for Monday's announcement of her legislation were two Antelope Valley women who lost loved ones to drunk drivers. Both said they hoped the legislation would encourage people to take responsibility and not drive if they have been drinking.

Yvette Bosley's husband was killed by a drunk driver in October 2001 in a crash that also severely injured her three sons. The drunk driver was sentenced to 18 years in prison because he was an ex-convict who had gotten out of prison three months earlier.

``Most people don't receive that kind of sentence,'' Bosley said.

Her sons have mostly recovered from their injuries, she said. Her 14-year-old, whose neck was broken, can no longer play football but is playing basketball. Of her 12-year-old twins, one can't play sports because he still has residual pain from his stomach and spleen being shoved into his chest cavity, she said. The other is playing baseball but still has a slight limp.

Morgan Idleman's brother was killed in Reno in November 2000 by a drunk driver who, under Nevada law, was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay the funeral expenses but served no prison time.

``It's a very devastating thing,'' Idleman said of her brother's death.

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(color) From left, Yvette Bosley, Betty Sorrell, Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, Morgan Idleman and Lancaster Councilman Jim Jeffra.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News