The Pennsylvania State Legislature is finally looking at a bill to try to make driving under the influence a serious crime.

The current laws have such weak punishment attached to them that it is basically the same as spitting your gum on the sidewalk or throwing your cigarette butt out your car window, which is a disgusting habit practiced by many local drivers. We have spoken out many times about the need for stiffer punishments for drunk driving for not just the drivers, but also the owners of the cars they are using as weapons of life destruction.

The current bill that passed the House and will now go to the Senate is offered in honor of a 45-year-old woman whose killer was out of jail following his fifth DUI.

On DUI No. 6, he hit and killed her, also seriously injuring her husband.

This bill recommends harsher sentences for drunks whose blood-alcohol levels are much higher than the levels of other drunks they are sharing the roads with while you and your family are trying to use the same road legally and safely.

This is one more example of creating new laws instead of enforcing the ones we have.

We are very much in favor of making the punishments far more severe. We are much more in favor of making the violators, yes the killers, actually do the full sentences they are given and pay the full restitution that they are assigned.

Making the law sound tougher, but then not enforcing it, is just plain stupid. Further, we will again call for improving the legislation by making the owner of the vehicle responsible for the crime as well.

Loaning your car to a person you know has a problem with drinking and driving is the same as aiding any other crime. The biggest difference is the weapon weighs 2,000 pounds.

Everyone makes mistakes. Getting behind the wheel drunk so many times that you got caught six of them is not a mistake — it is disgusting and criminal.

The Senate still gets a chance to pass this bill, change it or bury it. Let’s hope they do the right thing and stop this madness of the revolving door for DUI criminals.

— RV