Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995 TAG: 9501060117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Nine people in the Roanoke area had their licenses suspended under the new law: one in Vinton, one elsewhere in Roanoke County, one in Bedford, one in Franklin County, three in Pulaski County, and two in Botetourt County, according to court, police and sheriffs' reports.
Licenses of drivers whose blood-alcohol content is 0.08 or higher are revoked immediately for seven days. The same applies to drivers who refuse to take a Breathalyzer test.
Virginia State Police Sgt. Bobby Ratliff, who is based in Bedford County, attributed the fact that his division made no DUI arrests over the holiday weekend to the state's tougher drunken-driving laws. The minimum blood-alcohol content for being legally drunk was reduced in July from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent.
``It was eerie,'' Ratliff said. ``There was no one out, and the ones we stopped had designated drivers. People have become extremely aware of these new laws. It's not that we didn't look for them; we just didn't make any arrests.''
Polly Myers, clerk of the Montgomery County General District Court, said there have been no DUI arrests in her county so far this year, either.
``I'm surprised that we've gotten through this week so far and we've not gotten a one. I think it's wonderful.''
Myers said younger people she talked to over the holidays told her the new laws ``really scared them,'' and people were electing to stay in for their celebrations instead of drinking and driving.
Not everyone is sold on the new seven-day revocation law, however. Botetourt County Sheriff Reed Kelly says it will not have much of an impact.
``It may deter a well-reasoned, occasional social drinker, but the habitual drunk drivers, this is not going to deter them,'' Kelly said.
Kelly added that the number of drunken-driving arrests in Botetourt County continues to rise and could be even higher.
``If we had more time to spend on it, you can be sure they'd rise even more,'' Kelly said.
The Department of Motor Vehicles received notice that 172 motorists had their licenses lifted between midnight Saturday - when the law took effect - and noon Tuesday, DMV spokeswoman Jeannie Chenault said.
By midday Wednesday, that number grew to 207, she said.
The numbers pleased advocates such as Lillian DeVenny, state president of Virginians Opposing Drunk Driving.
``That's wonderful,'' DeVenny said. ``I only wish it had been 1,072. But, hopefully, we don't have that many drunks out there.''
After the seven-day revocation period, Chenault said, drivers can claim their licenses at their local General District Court or ask to have them returned by mail. ``After that seven days is up, your license status goes back to what it was before the suspension took place,'' Chenault said.
However, DeVenny noted, that may be just a temporary reprieve. If convicted of drunken driving, she said, motorists will lose their licenses again - sometimes indefinitely.
by CNB