New law increases penalties on some repeat drunk drivers

On the day before Christmas Eve, new legislation went into effect that increases penalties for repeat DUI offenders.

The new law applied to those with a third conviction of driving with at least twice the legal limit of alcohol in their system, and for anyone with fourth DUI convictions.

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Plus, there are more severe penalties that include longer mandatory jail time.

Pam Ondash worked with the group Parents against impaired driving and was influential in getting the law passed.

Her son, David, was killed by a drunk driver in 2011.

"The holidays are hard you just keep looking back thinking I wish my son was here," she said. "Our lives don’t go back to normal because there is no normal to us anymore."

The law going into effect just before Christmas is especially meaningful for Ondash.

"It is a time of celebration. But the flip side is it’s a time that people are uninhibited. They don’t think about their choices," she said.

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