Laws are getting tougher on drunk drivers. Just last year, Bexar County adopted the “No Refusal” policy, applicable for every day of the year. But with so many laws in place that punish drunk drivers, how is it that a man has been arrested 12 times for drunk driving as reported in the San Antonio Express-News?
Carlos Faz, the Express-News reported, is one of the worst drunk driving offenders Bexar County has ever seen. He had his first offense when he was 25, and on April 1, he received another arrest for driving while intoxicated. Faz is now 61.
The Express-News reported that Faz now has to take a pill three times a week, which makes him nauseous if alcohol is consumed. He also has to use blood-alcohol monitors to ensure he will not drink and drive. All of this will cost him about $1,000 a month. Add that to the $150,000 that was needed for him to post bond.
According to dwi.com, a directory of DWI attorneys, penalties for DWIs in Texas are fines that are not to exceed $2,000, jail time of no less than 72 hours–but no more than six months– and community service. In 36 years, Faz has spent a total of nearly three years in jail.
Only now has Faz been mandated by the courts to get professional help for his apparent drinking problem.
The bottom line is that after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, becoming physically ill, and the use of blood-alcohol monitors, Faz was still able to find his way behind the wheel. Though repeat drunk driving offenders are not extremely common, harder laws need to be created to get those extremely dangerous menace to societies off the roads.
Drug and alcohol rehabilitation can be mandated by a Texas judge in “extreme cases” according to dwi.com, but there needs to be a law that puts a cap on the amount of offenses one person can have before the state sends them to a rehabilitation center or worse.
Unfortunately, the State of Texas cannot catch every person who gets behind the wheel after drinking, but stricter laws should be put in place to ensure a repeat drunk driving offender of 12 times is taken off the road. Either that, or they should lose their license permanently.
