WSET.com - ABC13Virginia Lawmakers Target First Time Drunk Drivers

Reporter: James Gherardi l Videographer: R.J. Burnette

Danville, VA – Tuesday, the state Senate passed a bill requiring first time DUI offenders to install an ignition interlock system on their car, meaning they'd have to pass a breath test just to get their vehicle running.

The house has passed a similar law, and many local officials say that's a very good thing.

Police say the driver responsible for Monday's wreck on Route 29 had been charged with DUI in the past. Police say 46-year-old John Beckelheimer was driving drunk, lost control of his truck, flipped it over the median and crashed head-on into another pickup. While this time no one was killed, the scenario could have played out very differently.

Virginia lawmakers are looking to initiate a no tolerance law against drunk driving.

"A lot of times they think, ‘Well I got caught one time. But that's one time out of however many times I made it home,' and they weigh those odds, and they keep trying to make it home and unfortunately, that winds up with scenarios or scenes like we have here today," said Corporal Stan Moorefield of the Danville Police Department.

A onetime DUI would result in the installment of an ignition interlock system on the offender's car, preventing someone who's drunk from even starting their car.

"If you can't drive while you're drunk, you can't commit the crime. It's stopping the driving behavior, even if you can't stop the drinking behavior," said David Grimes, the president of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys.

The association says this law, though severe, is necessary.

"In my experience prosecuting, I don't know that I've encountered a whole lot of people who got arrested their first time out driving drunk," said Grimes.

Whether you've done it once or a hundred times, they say any effort to stop drunk driving is worthwhile.

"I don't think it's too much to ask because that first offense where they've had a .08 or a .13, they could've killed somebody," said Grimes.

There were nearly 280 DUI arrests just in Danville last year. The association of commonwealth's attorneys says they've seen reductions in arrests in other states, where similar laws have passed.