Repeat drunken driving slowed
Arrest statistics show law appears to be working
 Joseph Dixon was arraigned in his hospital bed in Burlington on repeat drunken driving charges, as his lawyer, A.J. Blank, and Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Kontz stood by. (Adam Hunger for the Boston Globe) |
Eleven months after Melanie's Law began targeting repeat drunk drivers, the statute appears to be having a dramatic impact, cutting in half the number of multiple repeat offenders arrested and increasing the number of people taking breathalyzer tests, based on statistics released yesterday by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Since the bill became law last October, the number of repeat drunk drivers arrested with four convictions or more has dropped in half compared with the previous year, going from 445 to 231, even as State Police say enforcement levels increased in the last year.
During the same time, the number of drivers agreeing to take breathalyzer tests has increased more than 18 percent to 6,531, largely because of the new stricter penalties for refusing the test, state officials said.
``It really shows the importance law enforcement has placed on this," said Registrar Anne L. Collins. ``This is the way we're going to help reduce fatalities in Massachusetts."
Melanie's Law, signed by Governor Mitt Romney on Oct. 28, 2005, is named in honor of 13-year-old Melanie Powell , who was killed by a drunk driver in 2003.
Meanwhile, Joseph Dixon, 46, of Somerville was arraigned yesterday in his hospital bed in connection with a collision that killed one passenger and severely injured another after Dixon allegedly lost control of his car Tuesday morning on Interstate 93 south in Wilmington.
Police said it was Dixon's fifth drunken-driving offense.
Also on Tuesday, a Norwell man was arrested and charged with a seventh drunken-driving offense in Massachusetts. Registry officials were checking for any such offenses out of state.
Dixon was ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing on Sept. 19. State Police identified the passenger who died in the crash as Dennis C. Riemer , 53, of Somerville. The injured passenger was identified as Debra J. Parzych , 39, of Cambridge.
``Some people will always find ways to evade the law," said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey , who pushed through Melanie's Law. ``In the long run, the law will have a profound change on the Commonwealth."
The law calls for all drivers convicted of drunken driving five or more times to lose their licenses for life and gives prosecutors the power to introduce court documents to prove repeat drunken-driving convictions. In addition, the mandatory minimum jail sentence for manslaughter by motor vehicle increased from two to five years.
Comparing statistics from October 2004 to September 2005 with those from October 2005 to this month, the total number of drivers arrested for drunken driving jumped from 11,830 to 12,161.
All of those drivers had their car impounded upon arrest, another provision of the new law.
The total number of arrested drivers with prior drunken-driving convictions dropped 17 percent. Also, more than 700 repeat offenders are now using ignition interlock systems, which will turn on a vehicle only if the driver passes a breathalyzer test before turning the key.
Barbara Harrington , state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said a solid indication of the law's success would be a decrease in alcohol-related driving deaths.
Those numbers have not been released for the current year.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com. 
