Activist pushes changes to drunken driving legislation

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 7:22 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

June 5 - 6, 2004

If a drunken driver in Nevada kills a pedestrian or someone else but is not determined by law enforcement to be at fault, the motorist will be charged only with misdemeanor driving under the influence.

It is a state law Sandy Heverly of Las Vegas wants the Nevada Legislature to change when it meets next year.

Heverly, executive director of Stop DUI, wants drunken drivers to be charged with felonies anytime they kill others -- with no exceptions. And she wants those drivers charged with second-degree murder, which carries a prison term of 10 years to life.

The existing felony DUI law for situations that result in death or serious injury carries a prison term of two to 20 years, while misdemeanor DUIs result in a maximum six-month jail sentence.

"The person under the influence shouldn't be on the road anyway," Heverly said. "That has always been a major concern of ours. The person who was killed paid the ultimate price. The person under the influence should always be charged with a felony.

"It's murder at random. It's murder because it's total disrespect for human life."

From 1997 to 2002, there were 27 drivers in Nevada who killed nonmotorists and were charged with being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. But the federal government did not keep track of the number of those citations that were felonies.

Heverly, whose mother died of injuries suffered years earlier in a collision caused by a drunken driver, is one of the state's staunchest advocates when it comes to strengthening traffic laws against motorists who are under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. Heverly and other family members were injured in the same crash.

"What is frustrating is when we see a drunk driver who is not considered to be at fault," Heverly said. "But they are at fault because they were drunk and out there on the road.

"Strengthening DUI laws has always been a challenge. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bleeding hearts in the Legislature."

She had spent years trying to get lawmakers to lower Nevada's blood-alcohol limit. Last year lawmakers finally did change the limit to 0.08 percent, but the main reason the change passed was that the state would have lost federal highway funds if the lower blood-alcohol limit hadn't been adopted.

Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the tougher blood-alcohol law, said Heverly would have a "tough sell" getting her latest proposal approved by lawmakers.

"People shouldn't be behind the wheel when they're drunk," Manendo said. "But the flip side is, where is the personal responsibility of the pedestrian?"

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, a lawyer who once prosecuted DUI cases, concurred with Manendo.

"You have to look at the degree to which the pedestrian was responsible and the degree to which the driver was responsible," Care said. "It's not so simple to say that in all DUI cases we should do what Sandy proposes. But I do share Sandy's outrage and it should make for an interesting session next year."