Jon S. Corzine: “Mr. President today, along with Senator DeWine, I am introducing legislation that addresses the serious national problem…”

“Mr. President today, along with Senator DeWine, I am introducing legislation that addresses the serious national problem of drunk driving. This bill, "The Higher-Risk Impaired Driver Act," would help protect the public from those intoxicated drivers who pose the greatest threat to our safety. This bill would target a specific population of drivers who pose a special danger on our roads. These are drivers who are convicted of driving while intoxicated within 5 years of a prior conviction; drivers who are convicted of driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of .15 or greater; drivers who are convicted of driving while their license is suspended, when the suspension happened due to a driving while intoxicated offense; and drivers who refuse a blood alcohol concentration test while under arrest or investigation for involvement in a fatal or serious injury crash. The statistics documenting the threat posed by these drivers are startling. Nationally in 2001, about 1,461 fatalities that occurred in crashes involving alcohol-impaired or intoxicated drivers who had at least one previous driving while intoxicated conviction, according to the National Institute of Highway Safety, NHTSA.”