Bills would stiffen DUI terms Fri, Apr. 07, 2006 By Mari A. Schaefer Inquirer Staff Writer Two Penna. proposals call for 2-year minimum sentences for those who habitually drive drunk. Robert Pike of Upper Darby was charged with drunken driving for the seventh time on March 15, after he drove his car into a Wawa store. In February, Mark Perrotta of Ridley Township was arrested after leading police on a car chase the wrong way on MacDade Boulevard. It was his 10th drunken-driving arrest since 1982. Richard Lloyd of Collingdale was arrested on a charge of drunken driving for the 10th time on Feb. 26, 2005. Collectively, the three Delaware County drivers have 27 arrests on charges of driving under the influence. But looking back over records, it was the 160 drivers with more than three drunken-driving offenses that grabbed the attention of Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green. "There were a number of other cases with four, five or six arrests," Green said. "That is unacceptable, and at some point, the interest of the individual is outweighed by the danger he poses to the innocent." Green approached State Rep. Thomas Gannon (R., Delaware County) in late February to talk about stiffer penalties for habitual offenders. On Wednesday, Gannon introduced a bill in the House that proposes a two-year mandatory minimum sentence in state prison for habitual drunken drivers and forfeiture of the vehicle involved. An identical bill was introduced yesterday in the Senate by State Sen. Edwin B. "Ted" Erikson (R., Delaware County). Currently, drivers found guilty of driving while impaired face misdemeanor charges that increase with added offenses. Under the proposed legislation, drivers guilty of multiple offenses or with high blood-alcohol levels would face felony charges. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are two of only six states without a felony DUI law, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "This is more serious than you think," said Bonnie Weiner, executive director of the Southeast Pennsylvania chapter of MADD. She said hard-core drunken drivers can get behind the wheel 200 to 2,000 times before police stop them. The National Transportation and Safety Board classifies "hard-core drinking drivers" as those who have convictions or arrests for driving while impaired and blood-alcohol readings of 0.15 percent or greater. In Pennsylvania in 2004, according to the NTSB, more than 41 percent of highway fatalities were alcohol-related. Of those drivers who tested positive for alcohol after being involved in fatal accidents, 62 percent had a blood-alcohol level of .15 percent or greater. Drivers classifed as hard core were involved in 58 percent of alcohol-related fatalities. In New Jersey in 2004, about 37 percent of highway fatalities were alcohol-related and about 47 percent of the alcohol-related fatalities involved drivers classifed as hard core. Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149 or mschaefer@phillynews.com.