Grieving Edmond Family Pushes For Harsher Punishment For DUI Convictions

Adrianna Iwasinski, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The family of a young woman from Edmond killed in a drunken driving accident are pushing for a bill that would crack down on those convicted of a DUI.

Erin Swezey was killed in April 2009. The 20-year-old OSU student was driving eastbound on the Kilpatrick Turnpike near Meridian Avenue when her car was hit head on by an SUV driven by Theadore Shepherd. Shepard's blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, and he had multiple DUI convictions in the past. He also died in the crash.

"We want to make a positive out of a negative," said Keith Swezey, Erin's father and a well known journalism professor at UCO. "The Erin Elizabeth Swezey Act is something that will stop, we hope, drunk drivers from being on the road. People are killed all the time in accidents with drunk drivers. There have been a number of cases just this year in Oklahoma City, and we want to stop that."

The Erin Elizabeth Swezey Bill goes before the Oklahoma Senate's Public Safety Committee on Thursday.

Other language in the bill would lengthen the time before convicted drunk drivers are allowed to drive again and would require an ignition interlock device on their cars for two years after a first conviction, and longer for subsequent convictions.

Erin's family and friends have started the Erin Swezey Act Facebook page. It reads:

This bill is important because it will address several things about drunk driving in Oklahoma. First, it will require that the designation "DUI conviction" be stamped on a driver license or identification card when someone has been convicted of driving under the influence. Second, it increases the penalties for DUI conviction, requiring an ignition interlock device for two years on first offense, five years on second offense and 8 years for a third offense. This is in addition to other penalties already in existence.

Third it changes the length of time before someone convicted of DUI can apply for reinstatement of their driving privileges.