May 6, 2003

ROMNEY URGES LAWMAKERS TO “SAVE LIVES, SAVE DOLLARS”

Wants “per se” law, left out of House Ways and Means budget, put back in

Saying it will “save lives and save dollars,” Governor Mitt Romney today called on the House of Representatives to approve the .08 per se law in order to make it easier to get drunken drivers off the road.

Romney underscored the need for the per se measure by pointing to the case of a Massachusetts man who was recently arrested on his sixteenth drunken driving charge.

“Drunk drivers endanger the lives of innocent people, and that needs to stop. We need a per se law because it will save lives and reduce the incidence of people driving drunk,” said Romney.

Romney filed the per se legislation as part of his Fiscal Year 2004 budget, but the House Ways and Means version dropped it. The proposed law would stipulate that if a motorist is detected having a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or higher, that individual is considered to be driving under the influence.

Current Massachusetts law leaves open the question as to whether or not an individual who has a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or higher is truly intoxicated.

Romney noted that Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that does not have a per se law. He said the Commonwealth stands to lose millions of dollars in federal highway funding by not putting such a measure in place.

“As the only state in the nation without a per se law, Massachusetts is poised to lose millions of dollars in federal highway funding,” said Romney. “At a time of fiscal crisis, we can’t afford to sacrifice any federal dollars that we could be putting to good use here in Massachusetts.”

For any state that has not adopted the “per se” law by October 1, 2003, the federal government will withhold two percent of federal highway funds in Fiscal Year 2004 and increase it by two percent each year to a maximum of eight percent. Using this formula, Massachusetts would lose $5.4 million in Fiscal Year 2004, $10.8 million in Fiscal Year 2005, $16.2 million in Fiscal Year 2006, and $21.6 million in each year thereafter.

Said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey: “In addition to the financial benefits, adopting this law would make streets safer for our citizens by curbing the amount of drunk driving incidents.”

Many coalition groups, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) agreed. “Many innocent lives are claimed each year due to drunk drivers,” said Barbara Harrington, Chairwoman of MADD Massachusetts. “I encourage the Legislature to pass the ‘per se’ law in order to help deter that reckless behavior.”

Although the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Massachusetts has decreased from 407 in 1982 to 234 in 2001, the percentage of total traffic deaths in Massachusetts being attributable to alcohol at 49 percent is higher than the national average of 41 percent.

“As a state, Massachusetts is frequently on the forefront and a leader on many issues,” said Romney. “It is a badge of shame that we choose to lag so far behind on such an important public safety matter.”

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