By: Deb Gruver
TOPEKA -- Two state agencies -- KDOT and the KBI -- are working together to pay for a central repository aimed at keeping better tabs on people who drive drunk, with the aim of preventing accidents such as one in Wichita that killed a 4-year-old girl and her mother.
That's welcome news to the Kansas DUI Commission, which met for two years to make recommendations on how to reduce DUIs, only to find they might not be used because of the state's budget crisis.
The commission began meeting after a drunken driver crashed into Claudia Mijares and her daughter Gisele while they were walking across the street to school in 2008.
Prosecutors charged the driver with his fifth DUI after the accident, state and county records show. But because of gaps in reporting, the state driver's license database showed only two of those convictions. That led to serious questions about how meaningful the state's DUI laws can be if law enforcement, prosecutors and judges don't know how many times a driver has gotten behind the wheel while under the influence.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation confirmed Thursday that the agency is working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to get a central tracking system up and running.
Continue Reading: kansas.com
TOPEKA -- Two state agencies -- KDOT and the KBI -- are working together to pay for a central repository aimed at keeping better tabs on people who drive drunk, with the aim of preventing accidents such as one in Wichita that killed a 4-year-old girl and her mother.
That's welcome news to the Kansas DUI Commission, which met for two years to make recommendations on how to reduce DUIs, only to find they might not be used because of the state's budget crisis.
The commission began meeting after a drunken driver crashed into Claudia Mijares and her daughter Gisele while they were walking across the street to school in 2008.
Prosecutors charged the driver with his fifth DUI after the accident, state and county records show. But because of gaps in reporting, the state driver's license database showed only two of those convictions. That led to serious questions about how meaningful the state's DUI laws can be if law enforcement, prosecutors and judges don't know how many times a driver has gotten behind the wheel while under the influence.
A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation confirmed Thursday that the agency is working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to get a central tracking system up and running.
Continue Reading: kansas.com
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