California’s Soft-On-DUI System Is Fueling A Deadly Trend

California is facing a wave of deaths caused by drivers under the influence (DUI), with experts citing the state’s soft-on-crime policy as the cause, according to CalMatters.

In 2023, 1,355 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes in California, a 4.5% decrease from 2022 but nearly a 55% increase since 2014, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). CalMatters reviewed thousands of vehicular manslaughter and homicide cases filed statewide since 2019 and found the Democrat-led state was among those with the weakest DUI laws in the U.S.

Under current state law, DUI violations prohibit driving with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher. Commercial drivers face a 0.04% limit, and drivers under 21 are restricted to anything over 0.01%. Penalties vary depending on whether it’s a first offense. (RELATED: Trucker Suspected Of Killing 3 In Horrific DUI Crash Is An Illegal Migrant)

First-time offenders face fines ranging from $390 to $1,000 and up to six months in county jail. Probation is often granted, but a six-month license suspension is typical, with the option for a restricted license by imposing an ignition interlock device (IID), also known as a breathalyzer lock, on the vehicle. The law also mandates a three to nine month DUI education program.

Drivers typically don’t face felony charges till a fourth DUI within 10 years, or earlier if prior incidents caused injury, according to CalMatters.

CalMatters also noted that California’s laws allow repeat offenders to regain their licenses faster than states like New Jersey or Nebraska. The outlet found roughly 130 drivers convicted of a fatal DUI since 2019 already had their licenses reinstated. Alcohol was a factor in the vast majority of these cases.

The outlet highlighted the case of pediatric physical therapist Sarah Villar, who was killed by a drunk driver while walking her dog with her fiancé in 2021. The driver responsible had previous DUI convictions in 2018, 2019 and 2020, all labeled as misdemeanors.

“To the broken justice system that allowed this to happen — shame on you,” Villar’s father, Dave Villar, said in her eulogy, according to the outlet. “If I walked out my front door today onto my porch and fired a shot into my neighborhood every day until I killed someone, when would I be a menace to society? When do I become a danger to my community? I say it’s after the first shot. Our system says it’s after the last.”

A man undergoes a sobriety test at a LAPD police DUI checkpoint in Reseda, Los Angeles, California on April 13, 2018. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

In a similar case, Masako Saenz and her 5-year-old son were driving to a family Easter celebration in 2000 when a drunk driver slammed into their car, killing her son. The driver had already been convicted of his fourth DUI just two months earlier. While he would likely have been behind bars, a San Joaquin judge allowed him to complete a rehab program before reporting to jail, CalMatters reported.

DUIs involving illegal migrants in the sanctuary state garnered media attention in recent months.

In July, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the arrest of a twice-deported illegal migrant, Oscar Eduardo Ortega, on one felony charge. Ortega criminal history included nine arrests and a vehicular manslaughter conviction for killing two teenagers in Orange County, California. Officials said Ortega returned to the U.S. after being deported twice, killed two teens in a 2021 DUI accident, and served only three and a half years of a ten-year sentence.

Similarly, in October, officials arrested Indian national Jashanpreet Singh after he allegedly caused a multi-car pileup on a California highway while under the influence, resulting in the deaths of three people. Singh, living in the U.S. illegally, obtained a non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) in California and reportedly updated it just days before the crash.

Another story cited by CalMatters said a driver by the name of Sylvester Conway had accumulated two DUI convictions by 2019 and was arrested by the California Highway Patrol for drunk driving.

Conway served only three days in jail and failed to appear at his court date, prompting a judge to issue an arrest warrant, the outlet reported. In April 2021, Conway signed a citation for driving under the influence after being caught driving the wrong way on the highway with a BAC twice the legal limit. Conway again missed his court appearance that year, and another warrant was issued in August 2021.

Despite having three open DUI cases, Conway drove drunk again in 2022, ending his passenger’s life in a fatal accident.

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