I would like to see OWI DRIVER on license plates or special color .

How many of these "drunk drivers" that have killed or hurt someone anyway because alcohol wasn't even the true factor in causing the accident? That would be a good percentage to know. How many of the drivers that were supposedly drunk but there B.A.C. was only .09 or even .08 or just because there was accident there B.A.C was .05 but was still considered a drunk driving accident?

Before I forget. For those who think my idea of a $10,000 fine for a 1st time OWI is extreme, please hear me out. Almost 20% of your auto insurance rates in Wisconsin are due to alcohol related accidents. It costs Billions of public dollars to deal with this situation. if you do not like the stiff penalties I propose, then don't complain when you realize that you are paying for people to drive intoxicated every day. I do not have a problem with OWI offenders paying for their costs instead of you or me.

dmfd24: Taxi service would be dictated by supply and demand. I don't know how high the demand is at bar time, but if people see a need, it sounds like a good business opportunity. I would suggest vinyl seats and flooring in the taxi. You also mentioned reliable public transportation late at night. That would take public funding to operate and oversee. I think a savvy entrepreneur could make a go with a closing time taxi. If you have a pre-drinking plan, most issues could be avoided.

916wi - in my small circle of family and friends, which due not drink, and over the past 15 years I have known 8 people killed by drunk drivers. Yet I have not known one person killed by someone on their cell phone. Go figure.

916WI that sounds like a drunk story .

I have no problem with paying for a ride home. Except there is no taxi service in Janesville at least not running late at night. So thats not an option. I most certainly don't expect tax payers to start paying for people to get a free ride home either. And I don't condone people driving drunk either. I do think this man hunt for drunk drivers is getting out of control. I do think peoples rights are being violated so that local law enforcement can make there quotas and keep getting there grants. I'm not saying to people to go out and get smashed and drive there cars home. But I don't think people should have to live in fear if they like to have a couple of drinks.

Msleo...The majority of fatalities on our roadways have nothing to do with alcohol. So the majority of people who have lost a spouse, baby, family member have had to deal with the person that caused the accident "getting off" with a much lighter sentence than if the person had been drunk. I would guess that if this woman in the attached article was drunk she would be in jail right now, but seeing as how she was only too busy talking on her cell to realize she was about to kill this poor husband and father, isn't nearly as bad as being drunk. I would bet that she walked away from this with only a slap on the wrist.....http://www.western-star.com/news/crime/driver-involved-in-fatal-crash-talking-on-cell-phone-police-say-238148.html
Please think in the future before you go off calling people "idiots" just because they have a different opinion than yours--because, in reality, it makes you look like the idiot:)

+1 dfmd......I had a good friend that was a hostess. She finished her shift and had 3 beers with her co-workers--nothing crazy. Drove home, changed and went out to run an errand. She got pulled over in a speed trap for doing 7 over(32 in a 25). Cop smelled beer on her breath. Passed every field sobriety test she had thrown at her with no issue--breathalyzer registered a .09......It might have had something to do w/ the cop being a 200lb, totally unattractive woman. She got hit with a DUI, yet all of their "tests" said her reaction time/balance was fine.....You can honestly tell me that that would have been worth a $10,000 fine? Get real......

dmfd24: If intoxicated individuals did not have the foresight to predict they would be impaired after going out for the evening, who will pay for these free rides home. I would love to have free taxis, buses, rickshaws, or piggy back rides, but where does the money come from. I say, raise taxes on alcohol to the point that every political subdivision has means to safely transport every intoxicated individual who does not have a safe ride, home.

The individual who chooses to consume alcohol is fully responsible for their actions, and how they apply to the law.

Matt I'm behind you, although ten grand is a bit much, maybe five grand. As for the idiots who think the 4 cocktails during a hour and half dinner is nothing to worry about and the others who think we should worry about cell phones over drunks, lose a baby, a child, a spouse, parent, best friend to a drunk driver and watch them get off and tell me how we should "look at other things, or the other way".
The song your singing would change in an instant I gaurentee my friend!

916WI: I agree with you 100% about cell phones/texting and driving. I am with your sentiments on that issue. I am not addicted to a Crackberry, so it would not be hard for me, but I wish you good luck selling that to the public. I would propose a bill stating your concerns if I was in Madison. NOW, back to the topic. People just need to have a game plan before they go out. I know there are people who will drive impaired their whole life and never get caught or into an accident. I also know their will be someone who takes out a minivan full of kids coming back from a Brewers game who is driving impaired for the first time. If you would have been at the Drunk Driving Discussion last night, you might lean slightly over in my direction.

I never, ever, ever want to feel the pain I saw last night in the eyes of the families who had loved ones taken from them because of first time OWI.

ConcernedCitizen_aka_Disgusted: Driving multiple times while impaired only gives drivers an increasing false sense of security. Why don't you print your real name on your next post, and the next time someone locally is killed by a drunk driver, you can explain to their family your reasoning. This issue means enough to me that I don't care who knows how I feel, neither should you. One can play Russian Roulette once and lose, or you could hear "CLICK" fifty times. I for one do not want to pull that trigger.

thisisme: If people would agree to raise taxes on alcohol, then safe ride and designated driver programs could be funded. Local governments do not have general funds available for people who do not "Think before they drink". I have always thought bars could offer some cots for people to crash for the night for $20. Ultimately, if you go to a bar and do not have a safe ride home, I would suggest not drinking. I hate to be Pauly Preacher on this, but drinking without a ride is an elective activity that needs to be taken more seriously by those who chose to partake.

I would like the democrats to promise jobs like taxi and bus drivers for the people that drink which in return would actually create a job and kill two birds with one stone. Until our Government starts creating jobs, I wish they would just shut up about everything else.

I agree with you 100% 916WI! Why should someone who had 4 cocktails while they were out to dinner then get pulled over for a license plate light out. Then pass field sobriety. But because the officer smells alcohol on him or her still make them blow in the machine and it comes up .08 get anymore then a simple traffic ticket. But no its a huge fine loss of license, alcohol assessment and who knows what other penalties.

thisisme...I don't believe that Janesville has any public transportation late at night. Im pretty certain that the safe rides program lost funding or something because you never see the signs at bars for them anymore. Last year a group of us decided that nobody was safe to drive home so we called a cab. The cab ended up coming out of Beliot and we stood infront of the looking glass until 3:30am until the cab showed up. We called the cab at 1:30am to make sure we could be picked up at 2:30. You want to solve the "drunk driving problem" provide reliable public transportation late at night. Until then people are still going to drive drunk no matter what the penalties are. Gustopo and scare tatics are not going to solve the problem.

I would beg to differ with you Matt.......I have almost been killed twice by drivers operating 2-40 ton machines completely distracted by their cell phone usage. I have never had a problem with an intoxicated driver running me off the road. The government needs to stop fixating on this one issue. Before they continue their crusade against drivers who enjoy a couple of drinks, they need to recognize that there is activity going on on our roadways that is as dangerous as the activity involving alcohol. Until they do this, I would not even consider supporting harsher penalties against DUI. I would actually like to see them reduced in cases where there is no injury/accident.

Matt, by your own numbers, 98 percent of the time, a supposedly "drunk" driver doesn't even do anything bad enough to get pulled over, let alone hurt anyone. Sounds like a real big danger to me.

Does Janesville have a free taxi service after bar? Does Janesville have a designated driver program? If so, is this information posted at all the bars? No matter what the penalty is, people are going to drive drunk, especially when they have had too many and no other way to get home. I drink quite a bit, but only at home or at places where I am walking distance from home. What about those females who tend to have a few too many? Is there someone they can call, for free, to get a ride home or is she stuck sitting at the bar waiting for a ride. Is she supposed to take a chance with the random sober guy who just offered her a ride?

I agree that drunk driving needs to be nipped in the bud, but I don't think that just raising the fines and jail time is going to be the solution. When I looked around the bar on Saturday night, there was nothing posted anywhere with taxi numbers, or numbers for designated drivers. Why doesn't Janesville have a designated driver program?

916WI: Were you there last night? I learned more than I thought I would. I used to want to give a mulligan to first time offenders. Problem is, by the time a first time offender gets caught, on average, they have already driven more than 50 times while illegally intoxicated. You can bring up cell phone use while driving, shop lifting, they are all bad things. They are not even in the same area code as operating a 2-40 ton machine at 35-100+ mph. I would rather err on the side of scare tactics, rather than have the coroner explain to me why my wife and kids are not coming home.

Thank God you're not in charge Matt.......a $10,000 fine for stopping for 3 or 4 beers on a Friday night--not harming anyone but getting hit with an outrageous fine on the pretense that you "might" cause an accident sometime in the future.....Seriously now......Why don't we lock up all the shoplifters with 30 year prison sentences--because you just know that someday they are going to graduate to armed robbery!!!:)

My job got tackled a year ago.

I just want to say thank you to Rep. Hixson and all of the panel members from last nights Drunk Driving and Listening Discussion. I was impressed at the diverse knowledge base that was presented, and wish that more time would have been available to address the panel. If I would have been able to speak, I would have said this:

1. After learning that the majority of fatal drunk driving accidents were committed by first time offenders, we need to make the first offense penalties so severe, that most reasonable people will be deterred. I would now like to see a mandatory $10,000 fine for anyone convicted of 1st time OWI, with 7 days minimum in jail. Why should we wait until it is too late. I watched and listened to many families that have had loved ones stolen from them by 1st time OWI offenders last night, but today, you would be in more financial trouble in Wisconsin if you violate the Do Not Call List, than drive drunk.

2. The fine money will be used to help pay for counseling, incarceration fees, and future enforcement.

3. Parents of all freshman and senior high school students will be required to attend a meeting very similar to what was presented last night. Parents are the first and last line of defense with underage and excessive drinking. The culture of providing for and allowing minors to drink needs to end. Parents that do provide and knowingly allow underage drinking will be fined $10,000 as well. The school system and law enforcement are only small parts of the puzzle. Home life can have the biggest impact on minors either positive or negative. Parents need to be actively aware and involved with their teens lives.

4. Require all convicted OWI offenders to watch either in person or a video of the carnage that occurs with these types of reckless behavior. ER room footage, EMT footage, Coroner footage, and Trauma Surgeon footage. Some people will never learn, I believe this will help those who want to be helped.

5. Ignition interlocks are easily circumvented. They are a small part of the solution.

6. 2nd OWI conviction $15,000 fine, 30 days minimum jail. Counseling and rehab which would be determined by the courts.

7. 3rd OWI conviction, FELONY. One year in a minimum security, Dr. Phil like, dry farm. Intensive counseling with group interaction.

8. Raise the alcohol tax, BUT, this money only goes for prevention, enforcement, and treatment of alcohol related activities. NO GENERAL FUND. If people can pay $4 for a Captain & Coke, they can cough up another $.10 per serving. When it's your loved one that may be saved, it will be money well spent.