PHOENIX — All those years of legislators toughening up the state’s drunk-driving laws apparently have paid off — at least on paper.
A new report Tuesday by the financial advice website WalletHub says Arizona is the strictest state in the nation when it comes to cracking down on people driving under the influence of alcohol.
What’s driving much of Arizona’s rating is a state law saying a first-time conviction for drunk driving results in a mandatory 10-day jail sentence. No other state is stricter.
But that specific ranking may not be entirely justified.
The same law allows a judge to reduce that to one day if the person completes a court-ordered alcohol or other drug screening, education or treatment program. And Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said the one day actually may have been served before the person ever appears in court for arraignment.
But WalletHub did not base Arizona’s tough ranking solely on that 10-day jail term.
A second offense draws a 90-day jail term, the third-toughest penalty in the nation, though Gutier said that, too, can be reduced to 30 days. And a third offense is automatically considered a felony, putting Arizona among the top 10 in that category.
Arizona is not quite as tough in the area of fines, with a $250 minimum for a first offense and $500 for a second.
In that case, however, the numbers may be misleadingly low. Arizona law adds various surcharges for everything from judicial training to public financing of campaigns, with those additional charges nearly doubling the original fine.
Arizona also got points for laws which require even first-time offenders to install special engine “interlocks” after a conviction, devices that prevent a vehicle from starting unless it senses a “clean” breath sample. And state law also has police impound the vehicles of those who are arrested.
Gutier said the WalletHub rankings show that Arizona already has all the laws it needs to help keep drunk drivers off the roads.
“We need to enforce what we have,” he said.
Insurance companies also get some of the credit for Arizona’s No. 1 ranking on being strict on drunk drivers.
WalletHub said someone convicted of DUI faces an average increase in premiums of 37 percent, about the 15th highest in the nation.
