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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Mike Hanna |
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House, Senate pass Hanna proposal to strengthen penalties
for driving a boat while intoxicated
HARRISBURG, July 5 – State Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton/Centre, announced that the state House and Senate have passed a bill containing his proposal to toughen Pennsylvania's DUI laws by linking boating under the influence with driving under the influence. The bill has been sent to the governor for his signature into law.
Hanna said his proposal, which was included as an amendment to H.B. 78, would allow DUI convictions to be factored in the sentencing for a conviction of BUI.
Hanna said the problem in current law arose when a 12-year-old girl was killed in a boating accident on the Susquehanna River in his district. The operator of the boat that killed her was intoxicated, and also had three prior DUI convictions. Due to the penalties outlined in Pennsylvania law, the maximum time he could spend incarcerated for this offense was seven years because the law does not link DUI and BUI, and therefore did not take his previous DUI convictions into account.
"I introduced this legislation in response to an overwhelming outcry for action by the surrounding communities in response to this tragedy," Hanna said.
"It is simply not right that a person who is convicted of DUI and kills someone should face less incarceration simply because they did so behind the wheel of a boat rather than behind the wheel of a car," he added.