The North Carolina House passed two bills earlier in March with overwhelming support from members that would further toughen DWI penalties in North Carolina. North Carolina already has a reputation as one of the toughest in the country in terms of drunk driving related penalties.
The new bills would:
- Create a 0.00 limit for all DWI offenders once they recover their driver licenses.
- Enhance punishments for DWI offenders convicted of multiple offenses
The 0.0 bill simply makes consistent across DWI law the fact that when a DWI offender
Currently, North Carolina law makes it a felony if someone is convicted of 3 DWIs and is facing a fourth DWI charge within 10 years of the first DWI’s conviction date. At that point, the offender may be indicted and face a felony conviction.
The bill removes the 10 year restriction, and allows the state to prosecute a person as a felon regardless of when the previous convictions occurred. In addition, the bill reduces the number of prior convictions to two, making the third conviction a felony-eligible conviction.