More than 200 Massachusetts motorists have been busted eight or more times for driving while drunk or high, raising fears of more crashes like one that nearly killed a woman and her unborn baby on Sunday, the Boston Herald reports. “This is one of the most frustrating situations that we have to deal with,” state Registrar of Motor Vehicles Kimberly Hinden said. “I’m at a bit of a loss here. I’m not sure what can be done. We can suspend or revoke their license, but we can’t stop them from driving.”
Lawrence Robertson was driving despite a permanently revoked license, and was allegedly high when he ran a red light on Sunday, slamming his girlfriend’s SUV into Katelyn Melia’s vehicle. The crash forced doctors to deliver Melia’s baby by emergency Caesarean section. Legislation filed by Gov. Mitt Romney would crack down on repeat drunken drivers with a mandatory three-month jail sentence for anybody caught driving intoxicated on a license suspended for a previous drunken-driving conviction. The measure is called “Melanie’s Bill” after a 13-year-old girl who was run down and killed in 2003 by a repeat drunken driver. The number of repeat drunken drivers caught in Massachusetts was up to roughly 2,800 as of last year. More than 37,000 residents have had their licenses revoked as “habitual offenders.”
Link: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=95417