Friday Fallout: Florida, Toughen Up Those Drunk Driving Laws

From Orlando to Tampa and all the way down to the Keys, Florida law enforcement have their hands full with drunk drivers. One of the reasons why may be is that the state’s drunk driving laws aren’t tough enough.

While Arizona’s declining drunk driving arrests and crashes are a great example of positive outcomes from stiff drunk driving laws, Florida is the perfect example of what can happen when you just aren’t tough enough, and these two recent drunk driving cases show just how bad Florida’s drunk drivers have become.

Ponte Vedra woman crashes with two children in the car

Drinking and driving by yourself is illegal and dangerous, but when you bring your children along for the ride you’re endangering the lives of people who don’t have the power to say no. That’s why one mother from Ponte Vedra is in jail right now.

Not only did she crash and leave the scene of several hit and runs in Nassau County, she continued to drive to Georgia, and that’s where she struck a police car. When police arrested her they discovered she had two children in the car, and she’s been booked on driving under the influence (DUI) endangering a child and other charges.

Sugarloaf cook lands in hot water

Because of the mild weather, Florida has its fair share of people riding on scooters. They drive on the sides of the roads, and like pedestrians, don’t stand a chance when they are in the path of a drunk driver.

One Florida drunk driver ran into several of those scooters while driving drunk, and one person died and three others were injured as a result. He’s now in jail on a variety of drunk driving and drunk driving manslaughter charges.

Two examples of drunk drivers in Florida, and two very strong indicators that these drivers don’t seem to be deterred by the current drunk driving laws. So what can Florida do to stop drunk drivers and toughen up their laws? Maybe it’s time for an all offender ignition interlock law.

A recent study showed that ignition interlocks will deter drunk driving offenders, and once they are installed, the device will stop that driver from starting the car if they have alcohol in their system.

If Florida is looking for the solution to stopping these drivers, ignition interlocks are the answer.