Deschutes DA: Curbing DUIIs will take everyone’s help

Some Bend-area residents calling for changes to DUII laws and behaviors heard Tuesday evening from Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel about the issues involved and where things stand.

Around 70 people packed the city’s municipal courtroom for the group’s second town hall. They gathered to find solutions to the often-tragic issue of drunk driving on area roads.

Hummel offered some numbers on how many people have died or been injured because of DUII crashes.

He also gave an example of how a county in another state handles drunk driving incidents and the varying levels of criminal convictions in Oregon law.

Many of those attending are a part of a Facebook group called 1DUI2Many. Part of the motivation for the urge to change the drinking and driving culture comes from the recent death of Bend dentist Marika Stone, who was hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver while cyclist with friends east of Bend in late December.

Some people said the punishment for drunk driving needs to be more severe, while others said it’s a behavioral issue and the drinking culture as a whole needs to change.

“I think it’s what we can do to send a message to the people in our community that one, impaired driving is not going to be tolerated, two, how can we design our roads to be safer? And three, how can I as a district attorney use the current laws we already have more efficiently and effectively,” Hummel said. “How can we make Deschutes County’s roads the safest roads in the country?”

Hummel said it has to be a community effort involving many parties: the public, the district attorneys office, county commissioners, the sheriff’s office, the jail, restaurants, ride-share programs and many others.