Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995                   TAG: 9508100040
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                  LENGTH: Medium

WHAT'S AN `INCIDENT'? YOU'LL HAVE TO BE DRUNK, DRIVING TO FIND OUT

But if you're involved in an accident - even an "incident" - now we can take to you to court and make you pay for the police and rescue squads who respond.

That's the impact of an ordinance passed Tuesday by Town Council that makes anyone convicted of driving under the influence liable for up to $1,000 in costs related to sending personnel to the scene.

In its last session, the General Assembly passed a bill allowing any county, city or town to pass ordinances which would make anyone driving a vehicle, boat or train who causes an accident and is convicted of DUI liable to the locality or local volunteer rescue squads that have to respond. Council amended the Town Code by a vote of 5-1, with Councilman Al Leighton voting against it.

The law applies whenever an "accident" or an "incident" occurs, and Leighton cited the vagueness of the word "incident" in the ordinance as the reason for his vote, saying "a good lawyer could shoot all kinds of holes" in a lawsuit if such a matter was brought to court. He questioned whether the ordinance could be applied in such a manner as to make people convicted of a DUI pay for their own arrest.

Town Attorney Kathleen Dooley admitted the term could allow the law to be over-enforced. She said it would be up to the town to apply certain standards on how the ordinance is used.

"While the term is broad, I don't see us stretching it," she said. The decision to go to court would be made on a case-by-case basis, she said, and the ultimate ruling in such a matter would come from the circuit court judge who hears the suit.

"It sounds like a good idea, but I hope it's not abused," Mayor Roger Hedgepeth said.

Last year, there were 15 DUI-related accidents in Blacksburg, five of which required rescue squad participation, and two to which the Fire Department responded, Dooley said. So far this year, nine such accidents have occurred; fire or rescue squads have been called to two such scenes.

Dooley said the town's Police Department, fire and rescue squads are reviewing the costs associated with responding to such scenes, but the figures had not been determined yet.