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ask.heather@mail.house.gov
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In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax |
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax |  |
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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico
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| AP: BIA updates safe driving policy after drunken driving incidents |
May 04, 2006 |
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"Drunk drivers shouldn`t be behind the wheel of government vehicles. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these policies where it matters -- on our roads."
Rep. Heather Wilson
Read the Wilson press release
By JENNIFER TALHELM
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bureau of Indian Affairs has toughened its driving policy as the result of drunken driving crashes involving BIA workers in New Mexico.
The new policy, made public Thursday, would terminate the driving privileges of anyone arrested for reckless driving or driving under the influence. It also makes supervisors responsible for investigating allegations of an employee`s drug or alcohol abuse problem or history of unsafe driving, and taking necessary action.
Jim Cason, associate deputy interior secretary, issued the new policy a week after Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., hand-delivered a letter demanding answers from the BIA about an employee who was arrested last year for driving while intoxicated in a fire truck during a brush fire near Moriarty.
It was not the first time a New Mexico BIA employee had been involved in a drunken driving accident.
In 2004, the BIA revised its driving policy after a trial and settlement with the family of one of two couples killed in a 2002 drunken driving crash near Albuquerque, which involved an agency employee. That policy required employees get annual driver`s license checks and a driving records review and said workers could be fired for driving while intoxicated.
BIA spokeswoman Nedra Darling said Cason has been working on the most recent rules for months and wanted to be "more proactive" about drinking and driving.
The new policy:
--Requires employees driving on BIA business prove that their record has been clear of citations for reckless driving or driving while intoxicated for three years.
--Would terminate driving privileges of anyone arrested for reckless driving or a traffic incident involving alcohol or drugs.
--Reminds supervisors they may be liable if they authorize an employee to drive who fails to meet qualifications to drive on government business.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who has also called on BIA to take action, praised the agency for revising its policy.
"The idea of having a government employee who has been caught driving drunk using a government car is an outrage," he said. "Unfortunately, it has been going on at BIA for far too long."
But Wilson was skeptical.
"BIA has announced tough new policies before and didn`t make sure they were implemented," she said. "Drunk drivers shouldn`t be behind the wheel of government vehicles. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these policies where it matters -- on our roads."
Wilson wrote Interior Department officials last year, demanding to know how they allowed a man with a record of drunken driving to drive a BIA vehicle. She reminded officials of her request last week by having a staff member hand-deliver another letter.
The BIA employee was arrested in 2005 on a drunken driving charge after a Moriarty police officer said he saw the brush fire truck the man was driving force two cars off the road. Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia said Darryl Mike`s blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
It was Mike`s fourth arrest on a DWI charge.
Wilson said last year that her office was told he worked for the National Interagency Fire Center, although he was officially a BIA employee.
She also has said that after a BIA employee killed four people in a drunken driving crash near Albuquerque in 2002, the agency assured the public it would institute screening procedures to prevent future tragedies.
On Jan. 25, 2002, then-BIA employee Lloyd Larson drove a government pickup truck the wrong way on Interstate 40 west of Albuquerque and collided head-on with a car, killing two Nebraska couples. Larson was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and is serving 20 years in prison. |
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