By John Sharp
Missourians hopefully will be able to look forward to way fewer deaths, injuries and property damage caused by drunk drivers due to legislation passed May 14 to require persons convicted of driving while intoxicated and causing personal injury or property damage or driving while highly intoxicated to install ignition interlock devices on their vehicles for six months to prevent them from being started if the driver is intoxicated after persons’ first such DWI convictions.
Missouri currently does not require ignition interlock installation until after persons’ second DWI offenses. I could only find a handful of other states in the nation that don’t require interlock installation after drivers’ first DWI offenses as all of Missouri’s surrounding states do.
Being on the Kansas City Police Department’s media list I am notified of every major traffic crash in the city, and driver impairment is suspected as the cause or a major contributing factor in many of them that all too often claim multiple victims such as other drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
The new state legislation designed to deter drunk driving was added by amendment to Senate Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 1740 by my son, State Representative Mark Sharp, who had introduced similar legislation last year that passed the Missouri House but died in the Senate and that he reintroduced this year. His legislation this year was endorsed by the City of Kansas City and the Grandview and South Kansas City Chambers of Commerce and strongly supported by the Kansas City Police Department. The strong support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and its members contacting their legislators and in-person presence in the Capitol were vital to the legislation’s passage.
This year’s amended legislation also provided that certified interlock providers must adopt deeply discounted rates for offenders with an income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. This year’s legislation also provided increased criminal penalties for driving while intoxicated and causing the death or physical injury to another person due to criminal negligence and provided that offenders who cause the death of a parent or parents of a child or children could be ordered by a court to pay maintenance for such children.
The law was approved with nearly unanimous bipartisan support, passing the House with a vote of 144 to 2 and passing the Senate 32 to 0. If Governor Mike Kehoe signs it into law as expected, it will take effect on August 28.
Memorial Day
All KCMO city buildings will be closed on Monday, May 25, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.
There also will be no city trash or recycling collections on Memorial Day with all collections that week delayed for one day.
PIAC Hearings
Hearings in south Kansas City by the city’s Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC) that hears requests and makes recommendations to the City Council for funding neighborhood capital improvements such as sidewalk construction and repairs and other traffic safety improvements, park amenities and storm drainage projects that are almost always approved by the Council have been scheduled for June with a second round of hearings planned in August.
The first PIAC hearing for requested projects in the 6th Council District that covers most of southwest Kansas City that would be funded in fiscal year 2027-28 starting May 1, 2027, will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, in the South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce office at 1300 E. 94th St. just east of Troost in the Blue River Commerce Center. The first hearing for projects in the 5th Council District that covers most of southeast KCMO will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 29, in Hillcrest Community Center, 10401 Hillcrest Rd.
It is always wise for residents and businesses requesting projects to arrange for other supporters to attend the hearings to demonstrate projects have widespread community support since there are always requests for more funding than is available.