Hideki Irabu was stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence in Southern California on May 17. The retired major league baseball pitcher reportedly was drifting outside of marked traffic lanes and nearly hit a parked car. Gardena police say that they will wait for the results of a blood test before deciding whether to charge Irabu with DUI in California.

Irabu was booked around 2:00 in the morning and released the next morning after posting $5000 bail. If charged, it will be a first offense misdemeanor DUI.

Irabu lives in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes. He had an excellent record as a pitcher in the Japanese baseball league, though his success in the states was mixed. He played for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers between 1997 and 2002. He then returned to Japan and played until suffering a knee injury. Upon retiring from the sport, Irabu, 41, moved to southern California.

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Legislation drafted to increase the penalty for driving under the influence in California has stalled in committee over anticipated costs associated with the bill. The measure drafted by Assemblyman Jerry Hill would give judges the authority to permanently revoke the driver’s licenses of those convicted of a third DUI offense. It would also allow authorities to review a person’s entire driving history rather than being limited to a 10-year look-back period, and assign jail sentences accordingly.

A consultant has reviewed the bill and estimates it would cost taxpayers at minimum $11 million and potentially as much as $28 million. The bulk of the costs would be associated with the need to expand California’s already crowded prison system. The proposed DUI measure comes at a time when the federal government has ordered California to reduce its prison population. To comply, the state has released inmates incarcerated for lesser crimes, like drug possession, theft and DUI in California.

Under current state law a motorists found guilty of drunk driving in California is subject to a jail sentence, beginning with a first offense. Typically, an offender is offered court ordered treatment programs before being sent to jail. The potential jail term increases with each additional offense within 10 years, and a fourth offense is filed as a felony.

Opponents of the license revocation bill say that it will remove a very influential incentive for drunk driving offenders to enter an alcohol or substance abuse treatment program. Research shows a drop in recidivism for drunk driving when an offender is required to complete a treatment program before being licensed to drive again.

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Jani Lane, former singer for the 80’s band ‘Warrant’, was arrested for driving under the influence in the LA area. It is his second CA DUI offense in less than a year.

Lane sideswiped a parked vehicle with his black Infiniti sedan in Woodland Hills last Sunday evening. According to an LAPD arrest report, he failed a field sobriety test and a breath test registered a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit. Both the parked vehicle and Lane’s vehicle were damaged though no one was injured. Lane, 46, was booked for California DUI and released around 3:00 am Monday.

In June 2009, Lane was charged with drunk driving after striking another parked car. The following month he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years probation, three months in an alcohol education program and one month of community service. Lane was arrested Sunday by the same officer from the 2009 incident.

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