WIsconsin lawmakers finally close drunk driving loophole

It is like Winston Churchill said of American politicians. They will get it right. After they try everything else first. Such is the case with Wisconsin’s laws governing repeat drunk drivers. Drunk driving laws in the Badger state are notoriously lax, but now, finally, lawmakers have closed a legal loophole. Governor Walker signed Assembly Bill 89 into law, stipulating that “any driver requiring an interlock device cannot drive a vehicle that is not equipped with the device from the time of conviction until order expires.” That means if you were caught driving drunk before, you can’t drive a car, any car, without an ignition interlock. That is important because until this bill was signed into law on Friday, those who were ordered by a judge to get an ignition interlock on their car, could simply drive someone else’s car. All perfectly legally. Not any more. Try to drive any car without first passing a breath test is now a crime. As it should be. There are too many on our roads destined to become repeat offenders. It is good to see Wisconsin lawmakers got this right, eventually.