Tax to fund DWI enforcment

Members of a state task force investigating DWI crimes might recommend a 5-cent sales tax increase on beer.

The revenue from the increased tax would go toward more patrol officers, investigators and trainers to combat drunken driving.

The state's tax of 5 cents per can or bottle has not changed since 1969.

The benefits of the increase were explained to the task force by Philip Cook, professor of economics and sociology at Duke University.

Chris Evans, general counsel for Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said Cook described the tax as a "user fee" - necessary because alcohol consumers are not paying an amount equal to the state's costs of DWI enforcement.

Darrell Jernigan, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program, said revenues from the tax could be used for other expenses, such as detoxification treatment for DWI offenders.

He stressed that although the group discussed the possibility of a tax increase, it will not necessarily suggest one in its report.

"At this point, this is not the recommendation of the task force."

In the wake of rising DWI statistics, the governor's task force on driving while impaired was formed in 2003 through an executive order of Gov. Mike Easley.

Arrests for DWIs and open containers have increased during the past few years, from 772 in 2002 to 984 in 2003, according to the N.C. Department of Crime and Public Safety.

The task force comprises experts in the fields of prevention and treatment, law enforcement, adjudication and advocacy.

Rand, co-chairman of the task force, said the group is trying to determine improvements that can be made to DWI laws and exploring ways to create more consistent enforcement.

"We've been concerned with the fact that the law is not being evenly applied," he said.

Rand said past issues have included ways to ensure a more uniform application of blood-alcohol tests and the possibility of lowering the .08 blood-alcohol standard.

Jernigan said the task force also considered tightening DWI statutes by changing sentencing based on the offender's blood-alcohol level.

The task force released an interim report in August detailing its plan to attack the problem by breaking down DWIs into four stages: prior to arrest, arrest and pretrial, adjudication and compliance with sanctions.

In this report, the task force noted that the processing of DWI offenders is inefficient. "The lengthy arrest process is problematic because the officer is off the street for too long," the report states.

The task force also noted that although the legal blood-alcohol standard is .08, few people at this level are being convicted.

"Some judges do not consider existing and currently employed technology used to determine a person's alcohol concentration to be reliable or accurate," the report stated.

The task force will meet for the last time Dec. 8 before turning over its report to Easley in January.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.