State Senator Bill Diamond, D-Windham, frustrated with what he calls lax legislation governing driver’s license suspensions, is leading an effort to strengthen operating after suspension laws in the wake of last week’s fatal truck driving accident on Interstate 95.

Caribou truck driver Scott Hewitt, 32, was driving with a suspended driver’s license when he slammed into a vehicle driven by Tina Turcotte of Scarborough on July 29. The woman was killed and questions immediately surfaced concerning Hewitt’s dismal commercial driving record and the fact that he had 19 previous suspensions, 42 driving convictions and caused a 1994 crash that killed a South Berwick man.

This week, Diamond finalized legislation for the Maine Legislature to consider this fall in an attempt to stiffen penalties for those who continue to drive while under suspension.

“As Maine’s Secretary of State, I was in a position to know the statistics surrounding suspensions,” Diamond said. “I’ve had a chance to look at this issue very up-close. What I realize, and I’m afraid others may not, is that there are a lot of Scott Hewitts out there and something needs to be done.”

Diamond said there are more than 8,000 people currently living in Maine who have been suspended 15 times or more. As Secretary of State in the 1990s, Diamond said he suspended an average of 60,000 licenses a year.

“People are out there driving who shouldn’t be,” Diamond said. “Over the years, we as a society have been focused on OUI (operating under the influence) offenses while regular suspensions have been falling through the cracks. Obviously, it’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

Diamond’s legislation, “An Act to Classify and Establish Penalties for Those with Multiple Driver’s License Suspensions,” would divide drivers caught driving with suspended licenses into three categories.

Class 1 convictions would penalize drivers who receive four suspensions over a three-year period. Those caught driving after the fourth suspension would have their license revoked for a year and would spend three months in jail.

Class 2 convictions would include drivers suspended between five and eight times in a three-year period. If caught driving, the offender would lose his license for three years and spend one year in jail.

Class 3 offenders would include people who have received eight or more suspensions in a three-year period. Their license would be revoked for five years with a mandatory two-year prison sentence.

“My first goal here is to identify to the Legislature that this issue needs to be addressed,” Diamond said. “Secondly, we need to get these habitual offenders off the road. It’s proving to be deadly. We have to get them off the road, whatever it takes.”

Diamond’s efforts in considering stiffer suspension penalties are supported by Governor John Baldacci, who has identified Hewitt as someone who should never have been allowed to drive considering his irresponsible driving record.

“This should serve as a wake-up call to anyone driving with a suspended license – commercial and non-commercial alike,” Baldacci said. “Notices of suspension are serious warnings that your driving is unsafe, and unless drivers take notice of their dangerous behavior, they endanger themselves, their families, and their neighbors.”

Like Diamond, Baldacci wants to review Maine’s laws and regulatory efforts concerning commercial and non-commercial driver safety.

“Here, education and enforcement go hand-in-hand working to keep Maine roads safe,” Baldacci said. ” Suspensions must be effective in keeping unsafe drivers off of Maine’s roads. I look forward to working with the Legislature to bring forth their recommendations. This has my full attention.”

State Sen. Bill Diamond is pushing for legislation to clamp down on Mainers driving with suspended licenses.