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Show Vi. - H t .1. " s-0 ' k " 1 "s- I ,A k : . . I I ' -v. I t ' ' ' fl ' ' '" ' I..-- . . ... .. ; -. ..... !P ... 'm,' j DRINKING AND DRIVING don't mix and a new law that goes into effect Aug. 1 will A 1 make it even harder on those who attempt at-tempt it. Aug. 1 Mew law gets tough with drunti drivers By Steven Wallis Express News Editor Persons who choose to drive and drink will be facing stiffer penalities after July 31 as new drunk driving laws will go into effect. The new law was passed by the general session of the last Utah Legislature. The most notable change in the law is that when a person is arrested for drunk driving his license is immediately im-mediately taken by the officer, if he has a blood alcohol content of .08 percent per-cent or higher. The suspect is issued a citation which he can use as a driver's license for 30 days. Within 10 days of being arrested ar-rested the victim must request a hearing hear-ing to determine if his driver's license can be reinstated. At the hearing, the procedure of arrest and alcohol blood count will be evaluated. If things are in order and the alcohol-blood count is determined to be .08 percent or higher the victim's license will be suspended for 90 days. Once in court, the convicted drunken driver is facing imprisonment for not less than 60 days and not more than 6 months or a $299 fine or both. There is a manditory assessment of $150 for an alcohol educational system and a manditory man-ditory $100 for the state victim restitution restitu-tion fund. Another $25 is tacked on for the drunk driver to renew his license. Deputies with the Uintah County Sherriff's Department Linda Powell and Pete Pickup said that the new law has required some additional training by the department. "The new law is more lenient to social drinkers, but a lot harder on the repeat offender," Mrs. Powell said. City Attorney Lynn Payne said that a lot of the new law, as with any new law, will have to be tested in court. i As explained in the new law, the primary purpose of the provision to suspension or revocation of a person's driving privilege is to protect persons on roads and highways by quickly removing from those roads and highways persons who have shown they are a safety hazard by driving with a blood alcohol content above a certain level. Upon a second conviction within five years after a first, the court can impose im-pose additional mandatory jail sentence of not less that 48 consecutive hours and not more than 10 days or require re-quire the person to work in a community-service work program for not less than 10 nor more than 30 days. The peace officer must advise a person per-son prior to the person's submission to a chemical test that results indicating .08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood shall, and the existence ex-istence of a blood alcohol content sufficient suf-ficient to render the person incapable of safely driving a vehicle can, result in suspension or revocation of the person's per-son's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle. If the person refuses the blood test, based on reasonable grounds the officer of-ficer can determine that the victim is in violation. If the officer's determination determina-tion holds during a hearing within the next 30 days the person's license will be suspended for a year. Lt. Mike Hamner, Vernal City Police, said he thought the new law was "workable" and would stop convicted con-victed drunken drivers from driving on their suspended license. "Many times it is difficult to recover a suspended license, and if the office doesn't know the person, he may get by. Where the license is taken on arrest, recover, of suspended licenses isn't a problem," Hamner said. |