Annie's Law Is Now in Effect: What Changes for Ohio Drunk Drivers and Their Victims

Published April 11, 2017 · New Laws

As of last Thursday, April 6, 2017, a first-time drunk driver in Ohio faces a license suspension of at least one year and, in most cases, an ignition interlock on every car he drives. That is Annie's Law, House Bill 388, and I covered the details when the Governor signed it in January: Governor Signs Annie's Law. This post is for a different reader. If a drunk driver has already hit you or someone in your family, here is what the new law does and does not do for you, and what you should be doing now.

The short version of what changed

Under R.C. 4511.19(G)(1)(a) as amended, a first OVI conviction now carries a definite suspension of one to three years instead of six months to three years. New R.C. 4510.022 lets that first-time offender ask for "unlimited driving privileges" if every vehicle he operates has a certified ignition interlock device, a breath tester that keeps the car from starting after a failed test. A court that grants those privileges must suspend any jail term and may cut the suspension by as much as half. If the device records a violation, the court can impose remote alcohol monitoring and extend the suspension, and under R.C. 4510.13(A)(8)(d) a violation inside the last sixty days pushes the end of the suspension out sixty days from the violation.

These are criminal penalties. They apply to crashes and arrests from April 6 forward, and they do nothing, directly, for a victim.

Find out who hit you

The first question I ask in every impaired-driving case is whether this driver has done it before, because the answer changes the case. Prior OVIs support punitive damages, make a negligent-entrustment claim against whoever lent him the car, and tell us whether a bar or an employer knew what it was dealing with. Here is how we find out:

• The crash report. The Ohio crash report lists any citations issued at the scene and the driver's license number, which is the key to everything else.
• Court dockets. Montgomery County's clerk of courts and the municipal courts in Kettering, Miamisburg, Vandalia, Xenia and elsewhere post case dockets online. A search by name turns up prior OVI charges, pleas, and sentences.
• The driving record. A certified driving abstract from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles shows prior suspensions and convictions statewide.
• Discovery. Once suit is filed, the driver must answer under oath about prior arrests, treatment, and the interlock order he may now be driving under. A driver who caused your crash in a car that was supposed to have an interlock, or during a suspension, has handed us the case.

Two cases, two tracks

Victims often assume they should wait for the criminal case to finish. Do not. The criminal case belongs to the State of Ohio; the civil case belongs to you, and the two proceed independently.

The prosecutor's victim-witness office will keep you informed about hearings and sentencing and will ask whether you want to make a statement. Say yes, but understand the limits. Restitution orders in these cases are modest and are usually limited to out-of-pocket expenses. Fines go to the court, not to you.

Your civil claim does not require a conviction. Ohio law gives anyone injured by a criminal act a civil action for full damages, as the Supreme Court of Ohio confirmed this winter; see Victim of a Crime? Ohio Lets You Sue Even Without a Conviction. A guilty plea, when it comes, is an admission we use. An acquittal or a reduced charge changes nothing about the civil standard, which is simply whether it is more likely than not that the driver was negligent. He was.

Waiting also costs evidence. The bar's surveillance system records over itself within weeks. The driver's phone records, the 911 audio, and the blood-test paperwork all have shelf lives. We send preservation letters in the first days, not after sentencing.

Punitive damages

Compensatory damages pay for what you lost: medical bills, income, the ability to do the things you did before, and in a death case, the losses of the surviving family. Punitive damages are different. They punish. R.C. 2315.21 allows them when a defendant's conduct demonstrates malice, which Ohio courts have understood to include a conscious disregard for the safety of others that has a great probability of causing substantial harm. A driver who gets behind the wheel at twice the legal limit fits that description, and prior OVIs make the argument stronger still. The statute requires clear and convincing evidence and generally caps punitive damages at twice the compensatory award, so the compensatory case still has to be built carefully first.

Who pays

The driver's liability policy is almost never enough. Ohio's minimum limits are low, and the repeat offender with three prior OVIs and a thirty-year-old pickup tends not to carry more. Three other sources matter in nearly every case:

1. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. This is the policy that most often makes a drunk-driving victim whole, and it responds whether or not the driver is ever convicted. See our UM/UIM claims page.
2. The bar or restaurant. Ohio's Dram Shop Act allows a claim against a permit holder that knowingly served a noticeably intoxicated person who then injured someone off the premises. It is a demanding statute, but it is built for exactly this situation; see Drunk-Driving Crash Victims: Dram Shop Claims Against Bars.
3. The car's owner or the driver's employer. A parent who hands the keys to a son with a known drinking problem, or a company that keeps an employee with OVIs on a delivery route, can be liable for negligent entrustment, hiring, or retention.

What this means for you

Annie's Law should take some repeat offenders off the roads of the Miami Valley. If you have already been hurt, the law changes the driver's future, not your recovery. Your recovery depends on preserving evidence quickly, identifying every responsible party and policy, and refusing the early, quiet settlement the insurer will offer while you are still in a neck brace. None of that waits for the criminal docket.