EDITORIAL: Virginia’s sobering new law
Tuesday, Jun. 28 by Staff
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/editorial_virginias_sobering_new_law123/

A few hundred new laws are slated to take effect in Virginia this week, but few are getting more attention than the one involving underage drivers who quaff a drink or two before climbing behind the wheel and hitting the road.

As of July 1, any driver younger than 21 with a blood alcohol level of 0.02 or higher will lose his or her license for a year, and either pay a $500 fine or perform 50 hours of community service. How strict is the new law? Consider that, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a 120-pound person can reach a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 percent by consuming just one drink per hour.

The so-called “zero tolerance” law, which won unanimous approval in the General Assembly in Richmond this spring, is welcome news to every parent, friend, neighbor and police officer in the state. It’s one of few laws that can be pointed to and labeled ‘life saver.’

It also represents the first meaningful legislation on teen drinking and driving since Virginia raised its drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1987 – a generation of new drivers ago. Study after study confirms that teenage drivers are a major hazard on our roadways before taking a sip of alcohol or texting a single message.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight U.S. teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from a motor vehicle injury in 2009. Per mile driven, teen drivers are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

For a new driver that’s more susceptible to alcohol at lower blood-alcohol levels, those numbers rise exponentially with every swig of alcohol.

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard Holcomb says that 1,285 drivers younger than 21 were convicted of drunken driving in Virginia last year; most were between the age of 18 and 20.

Although we’re not convinced a $500 fine or community service will prevent many Loudoun teens from making an ill-advised trip home on a Friday night, we’re fairly certain the prospect of losing a driver’s license for a year will change some habits.

For many 18- or 19-year-olds in Loudoun, going a year without driving privileges is about as tough as it gets. We don’t know many high school seniors who want mom driving them to the mall or dad picking them up from a swim meet. We also don’t know many college freshmen who don’t appreciate the ability to zip home from Blacksburg or Charlottesville on a moment’s notice.

Personal freedom aside, perhaps the most valuable component of the new law is it sends a clear and early message that breaking the law has serious consequences. Better yet, that message can be delivered without felony conviction or a life being lost.

It’s also worth noting the penalty for a teenager who drives after drinking a beer or two is finally in line with that of another teenager who is caught holding a beer on the sidewalk in front of his or her home. For too long, the latter offense has been judged more harshly in Virginia.

Given all that, the question is why it took the better part of two decades and hundreds of young lives to address such a critical issue.

Much of the delay can be traced to legislative concerns that enacting tougher teen drinking laws might violate the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act, which threatens states with a loss of federal funding for arbitrarily criminalizing offenses based on a person being underage.

Although the intent of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act limiting jail time for young people who commit violent crimes makes sense in a lot of cases, this wasn’t one of them.

Fortunately, federal officials finally recognized that fact last winter and reneged on threats to cut funding.

Beginning July 1, drivers in Virginia should become a little safer as a result. That’s a sobering – and welcome – thought.

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