‘Deana’s Law:’ A horrible reminder of the toll of DUI drivers
It was left to state Sen. Tom Killion to ask the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“How could this happen?” Killion, R-9 of Middletown, convened the Senate Majority Policy Committee Monday at Neumann University to focus on state laws regulating driving under the influence.
Prompting the special session was the tragedy surrounding the death of 45-year-old Deana Eckman back in February. Eckman and her husband, Chris were returning from a family event when the car they were riding in was struck head-on by a suspected drunk driver.
Not only that, but the driver, David Strowhouer, had a history DUI offenses. In fact, he had racked up five previous DUI offenses and likely was only out of prison because his latest sentences – for offenses in both Delaware and Chester counties – were allowed to run concurrently instead of consecutively.
“How could someone who had five DUIs once again get behind the wheel while intoxicated and end someone’s life, and what can we do to prevent this from happening again?” Killion asked.
The first part is easy; the second is a little more difficult.
Richard and Roseann DeRosa, Deana’s heart-broken parents, offered compelling testimony at the hearing.
They lamented the plea deals that mark so many DUI cases, which often lead to sentences that trend toward shorter levels of incarceration, which also affects the time when an early release is available.
In the case of repeat DUI drivers, especially those involved in accidents and with high blood-alcohol levels, a new state laws now toughen the penalties for offenders, including a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison for someone who gets behind the wheel while impaired and then kills someone.
Strowhouer is the first person in Delaware County to be charged under the new statute.
But all of that only reacts “after” the fact, after the DUI, and after the latest tragedy to tear apart families like the DeRosas and Eckmans.
The truth is, as the Strowhouer case clearly proves, if someone wants to get behind the wheel, currently there is little to stop them. Suspending driving privileges does not stop a person who wants to flout the law from driving a car.
That’s why perhaps the most compelling testimony came in the area of technology, and steps that can be taken that would make it much more difficult for a drunk driver to be turned loose on our streets.
Richard DeRosa talked the work of engineers who are developing something called Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety. DADSS immobilizes a vehicle when it detects the driver is over the legal threshold of 0.08 blood alcohol content that constitutes a DUI violation in Pennsylvania. DeRosa suggested Pennsylvania lead the way in requiring every vehicle be equipped with DADSS by the year 2025.
Debbie D’Addona, a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, detailed the possibilities with what is called a SCRAM bracelet. The device is currently being used in York and Lancaster counties and can instantly alert law enforcement and probation and parole officers when the person wearing the device consumes alcohol.
Both Killion and Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said they will explore the possible use of SCRAM bracelets here.
Copeland also putting some teeth in the laws that are already in the books, increasing the minimum penalties for repeat offenders, removing the chance for early release for repeat offenders and increasing the offense gravity scores for sentencing guidelines.
It’s not as if it’s not needed. Chris Demko, from Pennsylvania Parents Against Impaired Driving, cited statistics showing 300 people are killed in the state every year by drunk drivers. And nearly half of those crashes involve repeat offenders.
Roseann DeRosa knows all too well the heartbreak that too often results in drunk driving.
She paid – and continues to pay – a horrific price, every times she looks at a family picture and realizes her daughter is gone.
“David Strowhouer destroyed our family and the criminal justice system failed us miserably,” Roseann told the panel. “Our DUI laws must change. Deana wasn’t the first to lose her life and, unfortunately, she won’t be the last.”
That’s the price that those intimately affected by drunk drivers carry with them every day.
Monday’s hearing was a good place to start to change the laws in Pennsylvania and fully utilize the technology that can keep those under the influence from operating a vehicle.
“There’s now law that will bring Deana back,” Roseann DeRosa testified. “But if we can prevent this happening to another family, if we can save one life, it will be worth it.”
Killion vowed to push new legislation he wants to call “Deana’s Law.”
We salute all those who took part in Monday’s discussion. And we join in the push to enact “Deana’s Law,” in part so that another such hearing never need to be held again.