Victim advocates on the panel identified common problems that victims report in calls of frustration and desperation. The following issues and concerns were raised:
• Cases are not being properly charged, resulting in lack of prosecution. • Cases that are charged are often plea bargained down or dismissed. • Reports made to child protective agencies are not being documented or investigated. • A general lack of awareness of the seriousness of the problem. • Divorced parents who are confronted with the problem of an ex-spouse who drives while impaired face legal challenges and the financial risk of subjecting themselves to civil contempt actions if they refuse visitation privileges to protect their children. • Many victims do not have the financial resources to seek relief in the civil court system. Why Is There a Need for a Child ENdaNgermeNt Statute? Within each state, it is the legislature that determines the structure of child endangerment laws. Statutes of this nature are important because motor vehicle crashes outrank all other injuries and diseases as the major cause of death for children ages 1 and above. In 2002, alcohol-related vehicle crashes accounted for 22 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths of children. States with child endangerment laws widely vary in provisions and enforcement. Additionally, public awareness is often so low many people do not know such statutes exist. Individually, the situation is even more complicated because families with child endangerment issues are often already coping with the legal ramifications of separation, divorce, and visitation/custody issues. After a court has accepted custody arrangements, concerned parents and adults have very few options for protecting a child from a parent who drives impaired. Even worse, if a parent attempts to prevent the child from riding with their impaired parent, breach of the custody agreement could be enforced leading to further victimization. The law enforcement officers, judge, civil attorney and prosecutor on the panel identified difficulties in enforcing the child endangerment statutes. The following issues were identified: • There is difficulty in interpreting the existing DUI/DWI child endangerment laws; many of the laws are too complex. • There is a lack of education on all aspects of the laws and the problem of child endangerment in general. • There is difficulty in not being able to enforce civil remedies absent a restraining order or request of participation from child protective services. • Laws are not being uniformly enforced. • Violation of terms of the divorce decree as it relates to impaired driving with minor children in the car should be clearly tied to change in custody or visitation. • There is a critical need for judicial education programs addressing all the issues surrounding child endangerment. • DUI/DWI offenders’ parental status should be a consideration at sentencing in terms of probation restrictions against driving after drinking with children in the vehicle.
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