The problem is letting people with DUI back on the roads. The punishments for negligent murder is only a few years; the punishment for just getting caught is often not even jail time, just a short suspension of license. (This guy had 2 DUI arrests already before murdering two people: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020640576_nseattleac... ) The punishments for violating license suspension are minimal. Want to get serious about DUI? Make this the punishment:
1st time: 10 year suspension of driving privileges, monthly random police tailing to make sure you don't drive that day (funded by the violator); if you drive, the rest of your sentence is spent in jail
2nd time: 10 years in jail, permanent driving privileges revoked, monthly police tailing as above.
3rd time: Life in prison
You ever kill or injure someone while DUI: Life in prison
Life in prison has got to be one of the worst ways to deal with a criminal. If you think that the danger posed by DUI is worth life in prison, then it should apply to texting/phone use too.
It is people who knowingly put themselves in a situation where they kill people. It isn't about dealing with them, it's about protecting the rest of us from them. Typical prison may in fact be wrong -- an isolated island without vehicles where they can work and participate in society remotely would be okay for the ones who haven't murdered anyone yet.
I don't know about the jail punishment, but I see no reason that DUI punishment shouldn't be equal to phone/text punishment (and it should certainly be a license suspension of massive length).
1st time: 10 year suspension of driving privileges, monthly random police tailing to make sure you don't drive that day (funded by the violator); if you drive, the rest of your sentence is spent in jail
2nd time: 10 years in jail, permanent driving privileges revoked, monthly police tailing as above.
3rd time: Life in prison
You ever kill or injure someone while DUI: Life in prison