Pa. Senate votes to close DUI loophole - WHTM Harrisburg, Pa.

Pa. Senate votes to close DUI loophole

The Pennsylvania Senate has voted to close a loophole that allows drunk drivers to avoid tougher penalties for repeat violations.

Senate Bill 1239 was approved Thursday and sent to Governor Tom Corbett for his signature.

The legislation allows prosecutors to charge drunk driving suspects as repeat offenders if they are re-arrested for DUI before they are convicted for the first offense.

The proposal was introduced after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled a driver who was arrested for drunk driving twice in the same night could only be charged as having committed a first offense.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Rafferty, said the loophole makes it possible for a person to repeatedly drive drunk and be sentenced as if each DUI was a first offense.