It's possible someone is driving drunk right now, but unless they get pulled over or cause an accident, we won't know. That seems to be what some repeat drunk drivers are counting on.
It was Fischer’s temper that got him noticed. Staff at the Barfly at 114th Street and West Dodge Road asked Fischer to leave because he'd become belligerent. He got into a fight with a customer just outside the door, hurling ethnic insults and punching the man. Fischer crashed into a car in the parking lot, was stopped and arrested.
“You know everybody makes mistakes, we hope that you don't make multiple, but we're seeing that,” said Omaha Police Sgt. Tony Gutierrez. Officers say repeat drunk drivers like Fischer are a clear problem. Part of that problem is how they're now classified.
"It used to be 10 years they would look back for charging you for a second offense,” said Sgt. Gutierrez. “It's now 12 and that's been in place for several years so you're seeing those DUIs hang on your records a little longer."
The number of alcohol-related crashes last year in Nebraska was a 13-year low, peaking in 2002 at 2,248, down to 1,687 last year. Stiffer penalties for repeat offenders went into effect in 2005 and 2006, but some say they haven't come far enough.
“The drunk driver that killed my husband in 2007, she had an arrest for a DUI that was reduced, plead down to reckless driving,” said Michelle Cowan. Joe Cowan was killed two years ago when a drunk driver slammed head-on into his car at 108th Street and Highway 36 in Omaha. She also died, her blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit.
According to reports, she had been over-served at an Omaha bar. "I was livid,” said Michelle. "I was so angry. It was a stupid, careless thing."
Nebraska is just one of a handful of states that doesn't hold establishments responsible for over-serving. A bill in the Legislature, LB 675, would change that. Another measure, LB 667, would remove the 12-year look back on DUIs, making tougher penalties possible by digging further into a person's history. It also requires a mandatory two-day stint in jail on a first offense.
Both bills are priorities this session, but face more rounds of debate before a vote can be taken.
