Those convicted of vehicular homicide while intoxicated would not be eligible for probation under legislation sponsored by Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The bill comes after an investigative report in the Memphis Commercial Appeal showed Tennessee, which has among the nation’s toughest drunken driving laws for first offenders, is among the most lenient for DUI-related vehicular homicide due to a loophole in state law, supporters said.
“This needs to be fixed immediately,” said Senator Overbey. “Those who drink, drive and kill must face tough punishment for the severity of their crime.”
Currently, a criminal defendant is eligible for probation if the sentence actually imposed is 10 years or less. Senate Bill 35 prohibits anyone convicted of or who pleads guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication from being eligible for probation.
In 2012, the latest numbers available, 295 people died on Tennessee roadways in alcohol-related accidents, 29 percent of the traffic fatalities in the state that year.
“That is a sobering number of victims and not only do they have their futures yanked away, their families and friends also have been sentenced to years of sorrow,” said Senator Overbey. “It is troubling that those intoxicated drivers who kill someone on one of Tennessee’s roadways paradoxically benefit from one of the most lenient punishments in the nation with the potential of not having to serve a single night in jail.”
The bill now goes to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration of the proposal’s financial impact.