DUI arrest raises questions about laws

How could Susan L. West be on the road again?

That's the question that arises in the wake of her arrest by a Bellevue police officer on suspicion of drunken driving Sunday.

In 1997, West pleaded guilty to a vehicular-homicide charge stemming from the death of Mary Johnsen, 38. West struck and killed Johnsen while driving on the Sammamish Plateau. West's 20-year history of drunken-driving arrests and the death of Johnsen helped lead to the 1998 passage of 13 state laws aimed at drunken-driving problems.

Now the 48-year-old West is in a detoxification area at the jail infirmary. She is scheduled to appear in court Monday to enter a plea to misdemeanor charges of driving-under-the-influence and driving with a suspended license as a result of the Sunday traffic stop.

Here are further questions and answers about the case and state DUI laws:

Q: Did West have a valid driver's license?

A: No, she should not have been driving, according to the charges. West is accused of driving with a third-degree suspended license, according to charging papers. But the reasons for the suspension are not public record, according to the state Department of Licensing, and court records don't indicate whether the suspension relates to her 1997 conviction.

Q: Did West own the car?

A: Yes, the car was registered in her name, according to the citation issued Sunday. Nothing in state law prevents her from owning a car. Nor was the car equipped with an interlock ignition device, which requires drivers to perform a breath test before the car can be started. West was not required to have such a device, according to court records.

Q: Is West likely to ever get her license back?

A: That's unknown, and depends on several factors, including results in the court system. If West is found guilty of her latest offense, she could be in jail for up to a year, and then would have to reapply for a license, with the ultimate decision on whether to license her made by the Department of Licensing, which considers information provided by the courts in making a decision.

Q: Was West subject to any DUI laws passed after her conviction?

A: Those laws did not apply to her 1997 conviction. But the laws adopted in 1998 would apply to her current arrest. The laws contained such provisions as dropping the legal limit for DUI intoxication from 0.10 to 0.08 percent. She'll be prosecuted under that provision in her most recent arrest. West also refused to take a blood-alcohol test Sunday, so her blood-alcohol level at the time isn't known. Such a refusal can result in a one-year driver's-license suspension, but the suspension can be appealed, meaning the accused driver would have all the constitutional protections provided to any defendant before a suspension would take place. If a person is convicted of DUI, there's a mandatory one-day jail term, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Q: How many DUI offenders are there?

A: There were 41,872 DUI cases filed in the state in 2005. Of those, 26,112 were resolved, with some 18,239 resulting in a type of guilty plea, according to the state Office of the Administrator of the Courts. Of those, 9,312 were filed in King County.

Q: How many are driving a car with an interlock ignition?

A: One of the 1998 DUI bills that enacted a tougher interlock law became known as the Mary Johnsen Act. The estimate is 5,000 to 8,000 drivers in the state have the devices, says Jerry Stanton of Ignition Interlock of Washington, a Kent interlock provider that's worked with the state since 1994. That's up from about 500 in previous years, he said, since a 2004 law created a licensing category allowing people to use such a device in an occupational category, allowing them to drive to work, for example.

The DOL shows a different figure, however, with 28,651 drivers being shown as requiring interlock devices at the end of 2004, said DOL spokesman Brad Benfield. There's no explanation for the approximately 20,000-driver discrepancy between the DOL figure and the industry estimate.

Whether more could be done is a question under consideration right now, said Lowell Porter, a former State Patrol chief who now is director of the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission. The panel is conducting a study ordered by the governor to try to determine how to further increase the effectiveness of impaired-driving laws.

Such factors could include enforcement changes, changes in court procedures or even establishing specific "DUI courts," dedicated to dealing with impaired drivers, he added.

The report is to be done by the end of the year.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259