Governor Kasich signs “Annie’s Law”
On January 4, 2017, Ohio Governor John
Kasich signed HB 388, known as “Annie’s Law”. The
new law, which will go into effect on April 4th,
2017, is named after Ohio Attorney Annie Rooney, who was killed on July 4th,
2013 in Chillicothe, Ohio as the result of an accident with a repeat drunk driving offender who went left of
center.
Annie’s Law focuses on increased use of
ignition interlock devices for those who have been convicted of driving under
the influence and are given driving privileges.
An interlock system requires the driver to blow in to a breathalyzer
machine installed on the driver’s vehicle.
If any alcohol is detected, the vehicle will not start.
The law increases first time minimum license
suspensions from 6 months to 1 year.
However, at the discretion of the court, the license suspension can be
reduced to 6 months if an ignition interlock system is used. As increased incentive for use of an ignition
interlock system when granting driving privileges, Annie's Law allows for
unlimited driving privileges when the system is in place. Until now, Ohio law
limited driving for only vocational, educational, and medical needs.
According to MADD, states with the strongest
ignition interlock laws, such as West Virginia and New Mexico which require
them for all drunk driving offenders, have seen reductions in drunk driving
deaths by 50 and 38 percent, respectively.
In addition to increased license suspension
minimums and an expansion of driving privileges when using an ignition
interlock system, the new Ohio law also expands the look back period for increased
penalties from six to ten years. This
means a repeat offender will face increased penalties if they have a prior
DUI/OVI in the last ten years, as opposed to six years under current Ohio law.
-Bryan
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