Coventry Senator Calls For Crackdown On Repeat DUI Offenders

COVENTRY, RI — Coventry Senator Leonidas Raptakis is once again calling for stiffer penalties for repeat drunken and drugged drivers. These drivers harm others and "should not be on the road, period," Raptakis said.

"I don’t care how remorseful they seem when they appear before a judge," Raptakis continued. "The punishment for this type of reckless disregard for the welfare of others needs to be much tougher. Until it is, drunks are going keep getting behind the wheel and the mayhem on our roads will continue."

Raptakis pointed to the Warwick man who was charged with driving under the influence twice in one day just last week as an example of why higher penalties are needed.

The package of three bills addresses the issue of drunken driving from several angles. The first increases the penalty for those convicted of DUI, death resulting or resulting in serious bodily injury. The second would increase the period during which previous DUI convictions qualify a person for higher penalties to 10 years from the current five. Finally, the third bill would revoke the license plate of a vehicle if the owner was charged with DUI while their license was suspended or canceled for several reasons, including driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test.

This is not the first time the Coventry Democrat has pushed for more serious action against drunken drivers.

"From my point of view, we have done enough study. We’ve heard these bills year after year while people have continued to get hurt and killed on our roads, and the courts have allowed drunks to get back behind the wheel," Raptakis said. "We know people drive drunk, we know they continue to drive drunk after being convicted and their license has been suspended or revoked, we know they cause damage and death. We need to act and we need to get tough."