What is the answer to solving the plague of the repeat DUI offender.
There is a basic problem with much of what the law does in targeting these dangerous drivers.
The fact is that if someone decides to get behind the wheel of a car, there isn't a lot to stop them.
You can suspend a person's license, ban them from driving and take various other steps, but the bottom line is if someone wants to drive, all they need to get is get their hands on some keys.
It is the issue of repeat DUI drivers - and the current state of Pa. laws - that brought people to Neumann University this week.
Among them were Richard and Roseann DeRosa. They know better than most the horrors that haunt the road in the form of the repeat drunk driver. They lost their daughter, Deana, to just such a driver in February.
In fact, David Strowhouer already had 5 DUI offenses. But police say he was still able to get behind the wheel and become a menace.
The law certain can and should be changed. Already Strowhouer is now looking at a mandatory minimum of seven years, the first person in Delaware County to be charged under a new change in state laws.
It's one of several changes to beef up the penalties. Several more still need to be enacted.
But what most fascinated me was the possibilities of technology and the ability being able to detect when someone has imbibed and making the car inoperable when those conditions are present.
One thing is for certain.
I never want to have to report this kind of story again.
I can only imagine the horror that has been inflicted on the DeRosas, and Christian Eckman, Deana's husband who was badly injured in the crash.
Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, who brought the Senate Majority Policy Committee to Neumann, wants the package of bills he's working on to be called 'Deana's Law.'
If it saves one life, it will be worth it.
You can read our editorial here.
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