Dozens of government and law enforcement officials discuss how to crack down on drunk drivers.
By Colleen Hogan
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 at 4:19 p.m.
Read more: Local, State, Crime, Community
JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri must improve its drunken driving laws. That's according to the dozens of government and law enforcement officials who convened on the Capitol City Wednesday for Gov. Jay Nixon's DWI summit. The all-day summit was called after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch highlighted gaps in the system and problems with handling repeat offenders.
They came from all corners of the state, prosecutors, court officials and heads of state departments to discuss ways to crack down on drunk drivers in Missouri.
The statistics are startling. According to statistics compiled by Missouri's Highway Patrol, there were more than 7,000 alcohol related crashes last year. 262 people died as a result. More than 4,000 were injured.
“Many of those killed or injured, too many, were innocent victims who didn't have anything to drink,” said Gov. Nixon, who started the summit with brief remarks.
Nixon called the summit to get some of the major players together to talk about closing loopholes in state laws that allow repeat drunk drivers to get back behind the wheel.
Nixon asked the panelists to find legislative solutions, though only a handful of legislative aides showed up.
Getting toughter on first time drunk drivers as well as keeping better track of repeat drunk drivers were two of the most popular ideas at the summit.
Many panelists agreed that the summit is just the first step but one that's necessary to get the wheels of change in motion.
"The basic premise of why people drink and drive is because they can,” said Mike Boland with the advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or M.A.D.D.
One prosecutor suggested creating a public database to track drunk drivers. But another panelist pointed out that no laws should be passed that the state can't fund.
