
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 8, 1990                   TAG: 9006080732
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STOP TALKING, START ENFORCING

VIRGINIA political leaders could have a crick in their backs -- they've taken so many bows in recent years for their tough stands against drunken driving.

It's not enough, though, to put a law on the books and brag about it to voters. The law, to be at all effective, must be enforced, and the politicians who got the glory need to see to that enforcement.

Democratic and Republican leaders of the General Assembly all favored the "abuse and lose" law. It says that young people up to age 17 lose driving privileges for six months for possessing or buying alcohol and must give up their license for a year if they're caught driving under the influence.

But since the law went into effect last July, very few teen-age drinkers have felt its sting. Many teens caught with alcohol are let off with a warning from police.

The most they may have to worry about is that their parents will be called. Or, if they are charged, they are taken before a juvenile intake officer who recommends counseling or community service and then hands them back the keys to the car.

Police and court officials cite loopholes and say a shortage of manpower makes it difficult to enforce the law strictly. Arlington Del. James F. Almand, who sponsored the "abuse-and-lose" legislation, also suggests that law enforcement officials aren't yet familiar enough with the statute's provisions to apply it effectively.

The public ought to reject such lame excuses. The law was not meant simply to scare a few kids into behaving themselves. It was intended to save lives and limbs, and to prevent destruction of property by drivers with little experience behind the wheel and no business fooling around with intoxicating substances.

The 1990 legislature passed amendments to the statute that should strengthen it when they go into effect July 1. One amendment will expand the law to cover illegal drug offenses. Another will allow police to issue summonses for DUI offenses instead of juvenile petitions for DUI offenses.

The latter will mean that a juvenile picked up for drunken driving will have to go before a judge and not simply a juvenile intake officer, who now can decide not to take the kid to court.

But it's not enough for the politicians to sit back and wait to see how the amendments will work. They passed the law; they ought to insist on its enforcement - or confess they never expected it to be taken seriously and repeal it.

by CNB