MADISON, Wis. — A stronger push to deter drunk driving is included in the 2023-25 biennial Wisconsin state budget that Gov. Tony Evers unveiled this week.
Gov. Evers wants anyone cited or convicted of drunk driving to be required by the courts to have an ignition interlock device installed in their car, even if it’s a first offense. These devices ensure that a vehicle doesn't start unless the driver passes a breathalyzer test.
As the budget battle in Madison is just beginning, families are paying close attention to the fight.
Sheila Lockwood’s 23-year-old son, Austin, was killed instantly when another young man decided to drive drunk and crashed into a tree in Rhinelander.
“Losing Austin has just destroyed me,” said Lockwood. “He was my oldest son. The third of my four children. Nothing’s bright anymore without him here and our whole family together.”
The driver charged in Austin’s death was sentenced to three years in prison.
“He was convicted in 2019 and walked free and clear in October of 2022,” said Lockwood. “He is back to celebrating holidays with his family, but I will always have an empty seat at my table for every occasion.”
Cathy Koessl knows that pain and frustration first-hand. Her parents, Dr. Vincent and Mary Rizzo, and her uncle Dr. Mike Rizzo, were killed when a drunk driver slammed into their car when they were on their way home from a Friday night church fish fry in Kenosha County.
That driver is appealing his 32-year prison sentence.
“It’s just completely maddening that we haven’t come up with something better yet, as preventable drunk driving crashes continue to impact so many people in Wisconsin,” said Koessl. “We all deserve to be on safer roads.”
These women have put their pain into purpose working for stronger drunk driving laws.
Wisconsin is among just a handful of states that have no statewide requirement regarding ignition interlock devices. Thirty states and Washington, D.C., require all offenders, including first-time ones, to install a device.
Lockwood and Koessl are happy the Governor put a measure in his budget to require an ignition interlock device for anyone who’s cited for, or convicted of, OWI in Wisconsin.
“That’s certainly a step in the right direction,” said Lockwood. “It would save lives.”
“I read a statistic that there’s more than 20,000 licensed drivers in Wisconsin who have five or more OWI’s,” said Koessl. “That’s incomprehensible. This is one way that would help make sure you don’t find yourself or anyone you love in a position that you never want to be in."
But there’s a lot more to make it happen. In the last budget session, local Republican State Senator Van Wanggaard was among a group of lawmakers who introduced a similar measure that would have required many of those convicted of OWI to be limited to driving vehicles equipped with an ignition interlock device.
The Wisconsin Tavern League opposed it and it never passed. The Wisconsin Tavern League is an industry lobbying group that calls itself “the largest trade association in the United States to exclusively represent the interests of licensed beverage retailers.”
“This is a bipartisan issue,” said Koessl. “It needs to be treated like one.”
“I would just ask everyone in state government to put yourself in the position of what if it happened to you,” said Lockwood. “I know the root of a lot of laws is money, but lives are more important. What if it was your child or parents? I would never wish what our family has gone through on anyone, and if we can make this stop that would be the ultimate honor for Austin and other victims.”
TMJ4 News reached out to the Wisconsin Tavern League, but they never called back or emailed a response.
