Bill would ground teen drinkers

LINCOLN — If Nebraska started taking the car keys from teenagers caught with alcohol, it could mean a lot fewer teens on the road.

That's the prediction from Mike Jamrozy, a junior at Omaha South High School.

He said a legislative proposal that ties the penalty for minor in possession to the privilege of driving could either work as a deterrent to underage drinking or lead to fewer teen drivers.

“That would be a whole lot less kids driving,” said Jamrozy, 16, who has been driving for 10 months. “That would definitely work.”

He was reacting to a bill advanced Monday by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee that would ground teens 18 or younger from driving if they were convicted of possessing, selling, distributing or consuming alcohol.

Others at South said such a penalty would work only in some cases. Some kids might drive illegally, for example.

“Thirty days is not that much,” said Billy Cap, 16, a sophomore.

Delon Ross, 15, said she doesn't hear of too many students at South getting MIPs, and because most of them don't drive, she wasn't sure how much effect such a law would have on her classmates.

Still, the sophomore told a friend: “That's a crappy rule.”

The bill as originally introduced by State Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff would have applied to anyone younger than 21, with stiffer penalties for those younger than 16.

As amended by the Judiciary Committee, teens would have their driver's licenses or learner's permits impounded for 30 days on a first offense. A second offense would have a 90-day impoundment. A third would carry a year-long impoundment.

The license impoundment would be in addition to the existing punishment for an MIP, which is up to three months in jail and a $500 fine. For teens without a license or permit, an alcohol conviction would mean a 30-day, 90-day or year-long delay in being able to get a license or permit.

Both groups of teens would have to take an alcohol education class on first offense, add community service for a second and add an alcohol assessment for a third.

Harms said he hopes teens would pay more attention to the MIP law if they risked losing something they value.

“Right now the kids just pay their fine, or their parents pay it, and they go right on drinking,” Harms said. “More than anything, it (the legislation) sends a message to teenagers there is a serious consequence to their behavior.”

The law could affect several thousand youngsters each year.

State crime statistics show that 4,720 youths age 18 or younger were convicted of liquor law violations in 2008. There were 4,519 convictions for 19- and 20-year-olds.

Those numbers don't include convictions for driving under the influence.

Nebraska is one of 14 states without such a “use and lose” law. All the state's neighbors have such a law.
In Iowa, youths ages 17 or younger face a one-year impoundment for buying or possessing alcohol. Judges may impound licenses of those age 18 through 20 for a second offense.

Harms said use-and-lose laws work. A study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation found that states with such laws have 5 percent fewer underage drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes — an indication that underage drinking may be down.

Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah voted to advance the bill, but only with the amendment.

He said he had a lot of concerns about how a license impoundment would affect young people who are on their own and attending college or working.

“I don't think you should be prohibited from both (college and a job) because you can't wait until 21 to have a beer,” he said.

Rogert said it doesn't make sense for people who are six months from age 21 to have their license suspended for a year.

Previous attempts to get a use-and-lose law failed in the face of opposition by former Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. He argued that license suspension should not be used as punishment for nondriving offenses.

He also argued that the law would be harsher on teen drinkers than on the adults who provide them with alcohol.
Back at South High, Zach Bopp, an 18-year-old senior, said the sanction sounded “kind of reasonable” in most cases and would be a deterrent for some.

However, he said, it shouldn't follow the minor into adulthood and affect future job prospects.

And he offered this advice: “The best thing to do is stay out of the system. It's easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble.”

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