In reality, however, there is a spectrum of sanctions applicable to second-time DUI offenders in Maryland. In addition to fines, persons twice convicted of drunk driving in Maryland may have their driver's license revoked or suspended for a full year as well as have 12 points added to the offender's driver record.
Additionally, and if they qualify, judges in Maryland can sentence twice-convicted drunk drivers to equip their vehicles with an in-car Breathalyzer, also known as an ignition interlock device, for as long as 12 months, thereby preventing sentenced offenders from operating their cars if they have been drinking.
Who among us, if given the chance, would willingly share a lane in the Fort McHenry Tunnel at 2 a.m. with a repeatedly-convicted drunk driver?
The imposition of offender-paid ignition interlock devices goes far to neutralizing the threat of drunk driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, such technology reduces DUI recidivism among users by 75 percent. And a number of states which have applied the interlock sanction to all DUI offenders (of which two-dozen currently do, including neighboring Virginia) have seen declines in alcohol-related traffic fatalities by more than 50 percent, according to the federal agency.
Imposing such a proven, effective, technological sanction last week would have demonstrated that Maryland is not only taking the Phelps case seriously but so, too, one of the state's most frequently committed violent crimes, drunk driving.
Kurt Gregory Erickson, Falls Church, Va.
The writer is president of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.