Independent Representative Rusty Kidd of Milledgeville is supporting a bill that would clear a drunken driving offense if the convicted person does not have any other driving offenses for five years.

Kidd is not condoning driving while intoxicated. But he says he believes it is important to change the DUI laws to give drivers a second chance.

Kidd says, “I had a lady give me a call today almost in tears and she said, ‘Mr. Kidd we got a lady driving our school bus for 18 years. But when she was 17 she got a DUI. We changed school board directors and saw on her record that she had a DUI when she was 17 and they fired her.’”

But Barry Martin with Mothers Against Drunk Driving says there are many flaws in this bill that must be given more thought.

“This bill makes absolutely no allowances for verifying that the DUI offender has not been driving drunk,” Martin says. “It just simply says, ‘don’t get caught. If you don’t get caught in five years, we’ll expunge your record.’”

Kidd says he will work on the bill's wording with stakeholders like Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration, DUI offenders drive drunk up to 85 times before ever getting caught.

Tags: Rusty Kidd, DUI, MADD, Elizabeth Choi, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Barry Martin