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DUIs

Ohio lawmakers have some catching up to do if they are to follow the lead of those in West Virginia who have made the Mountain State among the strictest in the nation in dealing with drunk drivers. While West Virginia ranks fourth in a WalletHub analysis of the strictest and most lenient states on driving under the influence, Ohio ranked a miserable 41st – tied with New Jersey.

Data on West Virginia was compiled before Andrea and Willy’s Law, which further increases penalties for drunk and impaired drivers, went into effect this month.

Driving under the influence is deadly. In West Virginia, anyway, it can also lead to some pretty serious legal and financial consequences. For example, a second-offense DUI in the Mountain State will net a driver 180 days in jail. In Ohio, it is 10 days. In West Virginia, DUI is an automatic felony by the third offense. In Ohio, drivers get another crack at it, not being given an automatic felony until the fourth offense. That felony remains a factor in determining further penalties for ten years in West Virginia. In Ohio, it carries weight for only six years.

According to other figures from WalletHub, strengthening of DUI penalties has resulted in a reduction in the number of repeat offenders nationwide. And, as laws have gotten stricter over the decades, the number of DUI fatalities nationwide decreased by 52 percent, from 1982 to 2013.

Legislators in Ohio owe it to their constituents to take a closer look at what changes need to be made to the state’s DUI laws. Any measure that can reduce the number of repeat offenders – and maybe, we might hope, stop someone from driving drunk in the first place, will be a feather in the cap of the lawmaker who brings it to the floor.

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