The
Wisconsin Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation
Sept. 11 toughening penalties on people who drive while on drugs.
Dubbed
the “Baby Luke Bill,” AB458 was written largely in response to
the December 2001 case of Michelle Logemann, Waukesha, WI, whose
car was struck by a van driven by Paul D. Wilson. Prosecutors
said Wilson ingested cocaine and ran a red light in Milwaukee,
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The
bill, which now heads to the full Assembly, would make it easier
to prosecute drivers who use illegal drugs by requiring only a
showing that the driver had an illegal drug in his system. Current
law requires authorities to prove the illegal drug actually impaired
the driver.
“These
mind-altering drugs are so dangerous it is illegal to sell, distribute
or even possess them. It makes perfect sense that a person should
not be permitted to shoot up with heroine or do a few lines of
cocaine and then get behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound bullet,”
the bill’s sponsor Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, said in a
statement.
Logemann,
who was 30 weeks pregnant, was critically injured in the crash
and lost her young son hours after an emergency Caesarean section
was performed.
Forensic
toxicologists were unable to prove Wilson was impaired. Wilson
pleaded no contest to homicide by negligent use of a vehicle and
was sentenced to a maximum two-year sentence.
Under
the bill, drugged drivers could face the same penalties as drunken
drivers, providing a 40-year sentence for causing the death of
someone else.
