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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 8, 2015 01:03 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Dan Moul |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Vehicular Homicide Repeat Offender Grading Prior HB 1733 |
| Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol causes nearly 10,000 deaths and 350,000 injuries annually on our highways, yet people convicted of DUI often continue to do so. Studies have shown that nearly 2 million drunk drivers on the nation’s highways have a prior conviction, including 400,000 who have five or more. Repeat offenders are a time bomb waiting to go off every time they get behind the wheel, yet when the odds catch up with them and they take an innocent life and are charged with Vehicular Homicide while Under the Influence, they face a felony of the second degree regardless of whether they have been previously convicted of DUI or other major felony traffic offense. I believe Pennsylvania law should reflect the enhanced risk a repeat offender poses to the public and increase the grading of the offense of Vehicular Homicide while under the influence where a defendant has been given one or more bites of the apple for the most serious kinds of traffic violations. I therefor intend to introduce legislation which will raise the grading of Vehicular Homicide while DUI from an F-2 to an F-1, and increase the mandatory sentence from the current 3 years to 5 years, where the defendant has been previously convicted of DUI or a felony major traffic offense such as Vehicular Homicide or Vehicular Assault. I hope that I can count on your support by becoming a co-sponsor of this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB1353