Here’s one from the “Utah needs more common sense laws” file.
The Salt Lake Tribune questions today whether Utah’s relatively soft hit-and-run laws create an incredible loophole for drunken drivers.
Looking back and the BMW driver who crashed into a bicyclist and left the scene last month, the Trib raises a great question about the law. Right now, someone, drunk or not, can cause a crash, be it a pedestrian or another motorist, and leave the scene and at worst face misdemeanor charges.
This becomes more striking if someone is drunk and causes a crash and leaves, later on you can’t prove their impairment. Utah needs to have a stronger law, irrespective of alcohol or drug impairment, that if you leave the scene of a crash, you are charged with at least a third-degree felony.
This is another example of Utah spending a lot of time on nonsense alcohol laws (or other life interference laws) when there are other laws out there (like this) that lack complete common sense.
We need to strengthen hit and run laws in this state, and it needs to be done immediately.
My car was rear-ended by a drunk driver a few years ago. His car was totaled, but he seemed to be OK. When the guy suddenly took off on foot, it caught me by surprise. But the penalty for leaving the scene was a lot less than for DWI, and I later learned it wasn’t his first offense.