Facing drunk driver penalties in Tennessee are more stiffer after several years of legislation adjusting criminal sentences. The most habitual driver in Tennessee has been arrested for DUI 19 times, something that would be a near impossibility under the new system.
DUI offenders got more than a six year sentence to be served at 50 percent. Now, a driver can get 15 years, having to serve at least 50 percent of that. Habitual offenders that get seven or more DUI's can get a 15 year sentence to serve in full.
House Majority Leader Lamberth chaired the criminal justice committee for two terms, working on much of the incremental adjustments to DUI law. He understands first-hand the pain a family suffers when losing someone due to a drunk driver because his mother's sister passed away at the hands of an intoxicated driver.
As we started increasing the penalties for repeat DUI offenders, one thing became readily apparent is that most of these offenders were being caught driving on a revoked license for their previous DUI Lamberth said. Every single community has a family whose lives have been absolutely destroyed by a drunk driver, he added.
To get a restricted license now in Tennessee, the driver must have an ignition interlock device installed for at least 365 days, and you cannot get your license reinstated without having driven with the interlock device for at least one calendar year.
While some complained that incentivizes new cheats to the system, Vanderbilt professor Chris Slobogin championed that as a much cheaper punishment, compared to incarceration.
Arguably if the goal is to prevent people who are drunk from getting in the cars and driving, and that's the only goal, that's at least effective at much lower costs to society and the defendant than putting the person in prison, Slobogin said.
House Bill 167 passed last year. It created a DUI fifth offense and also mandates that people convicted for a seventh time serve 100 percent of the maximum sentence.
