Due to a horrible accident, the other night, Gov Richardson wants even tougher DWI laws. Well, he just made them tougher not that long ago and that didn’t seem to help, did it. Now he wants spike strips on freeway offramps so people can’t get on going the wrong way. Sounds good when you say it real fast. But that is alot of work on alot of offramps that will cost alot of money which will raise our taxes. Not to mention what if someone has a legitimate reason to back up? Or if the off ramp is on an incline and a new driver with a manual shift transmission rolls back on accident? What if they don’t stop the drunk driver and they still get in an accident? Now the state will get sued and most likely by both parties.

He also wants ignition interlocks on the cars of drivers that get DWI’s in other states. Why should the state of New Mexico benefit financially from an offense that occured somewhere else?

The problem is not weak laws. It is enforcement of existing laws. Too many cases are thrown out, in this state. Most cases never go to court. So what good is a tougher law that will never be tried before a judge?

This is Gov Richardson positioning himself for a possible presidential run. This will be so he can make the statement “I made tougher laws on drunks”. And if the laws do not pass he can say “I tried to get these laws, but was blocked, and it’s not my fault”. Seems like democrats sure do try real hard, doesn’t it? Trying only gets you so much.