How I would deal with DUI plague in Washington state

Nov 1, 2013, 1:18 PM | Updated: Nov 2, 2013, 10:04 am

KIRO Radio's Dori Monson has an idea for how to fix DUI plague in Washington state. (AP Photo/file)

(AP Photo/file)

Taken from Friday’s edition of The Dori Monson Show.

This week, a Port Orchard man was picked up for drunk driving for the thirteenth time.

Excerpt from KIRO Radio Reporter Chris Sullivan’s report:

The Washington State Patrol said troopers found Charles Sorensen’s truck in a ditch Wednesday night. When they tried to help the 49-year-old, he ran off.

Troopers said he could barely stand after they caught up with him. They also said a half-empty beer and an open bottle of vodka were found in his truck.

This is the 13th time Sorensen has been arrested for DUI. The Kitsap Sun reports he has been convicted seven times. His last conviction was in 2007, after which he spent a year-and-a-half in prison.

Sorensen could face significant time, if convicted again, because of new repeat drunk driving penalties approved by the Legislature.

This guy has shown that he couldn’t care less about the safety of your family and mine, and we just keep putting him out there on the road so he can drive drunk. Were we going to wait until he injured or killed somebody?

I’ve told you before how I would deal with the DUI plague in our state and in our country. I would get tougher with the punishment. You get tougher with the punishment, people stop driving drunk.

Here’s my solution, as I’ve been talking about for 18 years:

The first DUI would be very similar to what it is now, a weekend in jail, impounding the vehicle. I’m fine with that, but nothing that turns your life upside down because I truly believe anybody can make that mistake one time.

We should make the second DUI a felony offense. If you have a DUI on your record, and you know with a second DUI you could go to jail for three years, five years, you’d stop driving drunk. And if you’re too selfish to stop driving drunk, you deserve to go to jail for as many years as the punishment would be for multiple DUIs.

If you get a third DUI, three strikes you’re out. We should lock you up for the rest of your life because you’re too dangerous, and we’re not going to wait until you injure or kill somebody. We’re going to make people safe from you.

First DUI, it doesn’t turn your life upside down. Every subsequent DUI, it does. The problem would be solved.

Taken from Friday’s edition of The Dori Monson Show.