Proposals to cut down on bad driving cross political lanes in Minnesota session
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It could be a bad legislative session for bad drivers.
Traffic safety is one place where lawmakers appear inclined to reach bipartisan consensus this year. Proposals range from more requirements for people looking to get behind the wheel after impaired driving offenses to stiffer penalties for those with a lead foot.
“Running stop lights, speeding — all the highways are insane. I mean, you go down any highway somebody blows your doors off at 100 miles an hour,” said Rep. Terry Stier, R-Belle Plaine. “Hopefully the public is fed up with it, and they get behind us.”
Stier has been in law enforcement for 23 years, the past four as the chief of the Belle Plaine Police Department.
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Stier, a first-term lawmaker, wasted little time pushing to boost the penalty for drivers who flee from police from three to up to five years in prison.
“They’re putting the entire general public at risk,” Stier said. “They're crashing into squad cars and they're hurting officers in the process. So we have to find a way to stop this."
Along with Stier’s legislation, there are bills to toughen punishments for speeding, repeat DWIs and driving without a license.
The driving bills are some of the few that have bipartisan support so far this session. In a session where the parties are split pretty much down the middle — 101 DFLers and 100 Republicans — that bodes well for the drive to change the rules of the road.
Gov. Tim Walz also has speeding in his sights. He’s recommended that drivers caught going more than 35 miles an hour above the speed limit get their licenses revoked for six months. Currently, that sanction applies to drivers zooming at more than 100 miles per hour.
“The expected goal of this new law is to provide an additional tool for law enforcement to address the most excessive types [of] speeding violations,” the budget proposal says.
While pointing to the possibility of more court activity and licensing sanctions, “the further goal is to see a decrease over time regarding this unsafe driving that affects the safety of all Minnesotans.”
Col. Christina Bogojevic, the chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said it’s a common-sense change.
“We’re looking at all speed limits because it’s just as dangerous going 70 miles per hour and a 30 mile per hour zone, as it is over 100 on a freeway,” she said.
State data shows speed citations ticked up during a three-year period that transportation officials analyzed; there were nearly 90,000 in 2022.
Bogojevic says that tracks with what her troopers are seeing.
Last year was the deadliest year on Minnesota roads since 2021. Speed was a factor in nearly 30 percent of those 2024 crashes.
“When you look at last year’s fatal numbers of 478 deaths on Minnesota roadways, it’s brought a lot of attention to what’s being seen out there,” Bogojevic said. “So people are looking for any effort they can to bring those numbers down. When you’re talking 72 more families that are notified that a loved one has been killed on the road, it's just too many.”
Repeat drunk drivers are another key concern.
Last fall, a man with multiple DWIs drove his vehicle into the patio at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, killing two people and injuring several more.
Sen. Ron Latz and Rep. Larry Kraft, both Democrats representing St. Louis Park, are seeking stricter penalties and requiring longer use of breathalyzer car starters for those with multiple DWIs.
It comes after a deadly crash last summer at Park Tavern, a well-known community gathering spot. Two people died and nine others were injured when a man accused of driving drunk plowed into the patio area where they were seated.
The man, Stephen Bailey, has pleaded not guilty to third-degree murder and several vehicular criminal operations charges. His trial is scheduled for May. Bailey had five prior DWIs on his record but was no longer required to use an interlock device.
Latz and Kraft planned to promote the legislation alongside the tragedy’s victims, their families, advocates and other community members at an event Friday at Park Tavern.
Their bill also expands the lookback window from 10 to 20 years for when a past DWI conviction can be considered in harsher punishments for subsequent offenses.
“Those things can really help eliminate those repeat offenders through these ignition interlock requirements,” said Lauren Johnson with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Minnesota. “This is at least a step in the right direction, and I hope that this can give some sort of peace to those that were directly impacted by that crash.”
