Annie’s Law faces challenges in the Ohio House

 

 

Thirty six year old Annie Rooney lost her life last year in a fatal car accident, and the driver who hit Annie was intoxicated by more than twice the legal limit.

Dr. Richard Rooney, Annie’s father, said it was difficult to deal with.

“It took us about three months before we could even land on our feet,” said Rooney.

Rooney described his daughter as athletic, beautiful, and bright. Annie attended school at Brown University, and later for law at Lewis and Clark in Portland, Oregon. Annie was planning to open up her own law practice.

“She was trapped in the car for almost an hour and ten minutes, and they couldn’t even identify her,” said Rooney.

According to the crash report, Annie’s car had ‘heavy contact damage,’ including a crushed dashboard, two broken headlights, and all airbags deployed.

“We didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“We didn’t get to say goodbye,” said Rooney. “And I know when we see you [Annie] in the next life, you’ll ask us, dad, what did you do about it?”

 

Dr. Rooney took action following the death of his daughter, and started working on a bill currently known as Ohio House Bill 469, or Annie’s Law.

Changing the law

If Annie’s Law passes, it would require all first time OVI offenders to receive an ignition lock.

Ellizabeth Gambone, regional public policy director for LifeSafer, said ignition locks have the potential to save lives.

“Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘let’s get out there and kill someone.'”

“Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ‘let’s get out there and kill someone,’ but it’s a horrible preventable tragedy when it happens. This is the best technology we have to prevent drunk driving,” said Gambone.

The bill has many supporters, including the Ohio State Medical Association, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Doug Scoles, state executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, thinks ignition locks would reduce fatalities.

Drunk driving is 100% preventable.

“Drunk driving is 100% preventable,” said Scoles. “We don’t have to put up with this. MADD believes the technology that we use and developed is the key to this. Let’s use technology to our benefit.”

Challenges delay bill from passing

Although the bill has several supporters, House bill 469 is pending at the Ohio House under review of the Judicial Committee because of recent opposition.

The Ohio Judicial Conference and Ohio State Bar Association wrote letters to the Judiciary Committee, and said the law would “burden the criminal justice system,” and “reduce judicial discretion.”

Playing the waiting game

Until Annie’s Law is up for a vote again in the Ohio Judiciary Committee, Dr. Rooney said he will be working to create more awareness.

[pullquote]”This could happen to your family.”

-Richard Rooney[/pullquote]

“This could happen to your family,” said Rooney. “It could happen to your mother, your father, your self… we don’t want any more people to die.”

Rooney said the hardest part, is going through everything without his daughter by his side.

“We miss her so much,” said Rooney. “This shattered our lives.”

Rooney said Annie had friends everywhere, and is greatly missed by her community.

Funding an ignition interlock in Portage County

Locally, Portage County Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick said funding for ignition locks might be a challenge.

“We have to pay for indigent people who are getting monitored, we have to pay that monitoring fee for them every day,” said Oswick. “That money could be used up very quickly.”

“That money could be used up very quickly.””

Oswick said if Annie’s Law passes, there is the potential for more indigent funds to be used up.

If this is the case, she expects license reinstatement fees to increase to help add more money to the indigent fund.

Although Oswick handles some cases where ignition locks are assigned to drivers, she said she prefers a different device used to combat drunk driving, called SCRAM.

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitors is worn 24/7 by offenders, and the SCRAM device sends out a monthly report of the offender’s drinking habits.

Drunk driving in Kent, Ohio

In Kent, Ohio, Community Resource Officer Michquel Penn said driving while intoxicated is something that police officers see frequently.

Penn said she’s not sure if Ohio House Bill 469 would be a good idea.

“You have to look at individual circumstances,” said Penn. “It’s really a case-by-case thing.”

Penn said she can’t imagine ever losing someone to drunk driving.

“When you go to a scene and you see the injuries that are a result of drunk driving… it’s a difficult thing,” said Penn.

 

Penn said just one death would be too many for her.

“We do appreciate when people are calling in,” said Penn.

Penn said she works with the community outreach program to help provide awareness of the dangers of drunk driving.

“We try to get awareness out,” said Penn.

Although Officer Penn said the Kent State Police Department does not see many OVI’s, the Kent City Police Department sees a various amount from year to year.