• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Car Breathalyzer Help

Car Breathalyzer Help

The One Stop Place For All Your Car Breathalyzer Needs!

  • Car Breathalyzer Device
  • Locations
  • State Laws
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • 888-958-8139

Is Eight DUI Offenses Enough? Fixing A Hole in Our Drunk Driving Laws

You are here: Home / Opinion / Is Eight DUI Offenses Enough? Fixing A Hole in Our Drunk Driving Laws
March 18, 2014 by Editorial Staff

It’s an old and sad story. A man who continued to drink and drive despite prior DUI convictions finally killed someone. In this case the victim was a schoolteacher, riding his bike near his home in Milford, Ohio.

What’s different – and shocking – is the number of DUI convictions the driver had on his record: seven. When 51-year-old Todd Shaw was arrested for the alcohol-fueled hit-and-run that killed Fred Carey, it was the eightStrong ignition interlock laws prevent road deathsh time he was brought before the judge for an OVI (Operating a Vehicle under the Influence, Ohio’s term for DUI).

In an investigative report, WCPO in Cincinnati asked: How did man with seven drunk driving arrests have a valid license?

As it turns out the driver, Todd Shaw, fell through a very wide crack in the system. Ohio has what is called a six-year washout period. If you go six years without an OVI, your next offense is considered your first. Because Shaw had some six-year gaps between arrests, his license was never revoked and he was never treated as the serial offender he was.

The six-year washout exists to protect persons from enduring forever the effects of an isolated bad decision. But clearly, there was nothing isolated about this offense – it was part of a pattern of drunk driving.

Drunk driving arrestThe washout period is also called a “look-back” period. That’s because it allows prosecutors to look back and decide if the driver in question has made a single mistake or is a hardcore repeat offender.

One suggestion from the AAA that might have saved Fred Carey’s life is for “look-back” periods to be extended for each DUI conviction. Another preventive would have been for Todd Shaw to encounter laws with real bite early on. A bill was introduced in Ohio this year that would require first-time offenders to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicle. The bill is similar to one that Indiana has just passed, and which is on the books in a number of states that have decided to get tough on drunk driving. Passing this bill, and levying severe penalties for tampering with the ignition interlock device or driving a vehicle not equipped with one, would go a long way toward preventing the disasters that every repeat offender is courting every time they take the wheel.

Category: Opinion

About Editorial Staff

The editorial staff is a group of writers and contributors with wide-ranging areas of expertise. The editorial staff provides news and analysis of topics that are focused on community and driver safety.

Previous Post:Designated Driver Programs and Services
Next Post:New Study Proves Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving

Installation Calls

Speak to our friendly and knowledgeable staff to get answers to your questions and to schedule your Ignition Interlock Device Installation.

Call Today

Interlock Basics

Car Breathalyzer Device

State Laws

FAQs

Resource Library

Installation

Service Centers

Contact

Call Toll-Free

888-958-8139

© Copyright 2023 Car Breathalyzer Help

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy