Stiffer Pennsylvania DUI laws result in higher DUI arrests

New Pennsylvania DUI laws went into effect a little over a year ago, and already its impact is noticeable. The number of DUI arrests and jail time for repeat offenders has increased in the last year.

Nearly 56,000 drivers were arrested last year, including over 4,000 who would not have been charged with a DUI under the old Pennsylvania laws. Under the old Pennsylvania DUI laws, the permissible blood-alcohol limit began at 0.10, which has been lowered to 0.08.

The state courts are still trying to work out the new DUI laws, in particular what the penalty will be should a motorist refuse to take a blood-alcohol test, which has been the source of constitutional challenges. In all Pennsylvania counties excluding Philadelphia, data from the district justice offices shows police made 52,019 DUI arrests last year, including 40,294 that qualify under the new law. This jump in DUI arrests represents an 11.5 percent increase from the previous year.

Philadelphia operates under a different court system from other Pennsylvania counties, but it also showed an increase in DUI arrests. Local police made an additional 3,719 arrests, a four percent increase from 2003. Philadelphia police do not have a breakdown showing what DUI arrests fell under the old or new law.

New Pennsylvania DUI laws not only lowered the blood-alcohol level from 0.10 to 0.08, but also increased the mandatory jail time for drunken drivers from two to three days for first-time offenders with a high blood-alcohol content, and from two to six months for many second or third-time offenders.

First-time offenders with a blood alcohol below 0.10 percent are not subject to jail time, just a six months maximum probation, which allows the offender to avoid jail time and maintain a clean record. The new DUI law refers to a first-degree misdemeanor when a three-time drunken driver has a blood-alcohol level above 0.10 percent, or to a second-time offender with a blood- alcohol content above 0.16 percent.

New DUI laws also impose greater fines, and more extensive alcoholism treatment for offenders will continue to be phased in over several years. The Pennsylvania DUI law changes have been such an overhaul that the director of the Commission on Sentencing says it is difficult to compare sentences between the old and new laws.