8-time OWI offender on proposed laws: 'It's a start'

Appleton resident John Schaus knows about alcohol addiction. He was featured in the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team series "Under the Influence," which focused on drunken driving.

Schaus, an eight-time OWI offender, has gone more than 11 years since his last conviction. To avoid the temptation of ever drinking and driving, Schaus no longer drives or owns an automobile.

In recent years, Schaus has shared his struggles and his insight in overcoming alcohol addiction at public forums.

In November, Schaus served on the Gannett Wisconsin Media I-Team's panel discussion that was held at Lawrence University. The community forum brought together several people whose lives were impacted by drunken driving in a variety of ways.

Now that state lawmakers are back in session in Madison, I invited Schaus to appear on Thursday's Newsmakers show on Post-Crescent Media to talk about battling the problem of chronic drunken driving in Wisconsin.

Here is and edited transcript of some of the questions, along with Schaus' answers.

In November, we had a panel discussion at Lawrence University. Were there any lasting impressions that you took from the event?

It went really well. It probably could have gone for hours instead of an hour. But a lot of good things were brought up. For me, it was good to get a perspective of other people, Kevin Wilkinson, the chief of police of Neenah, the judge we had on the panel (Donald Zuidmulder of Brown County) and some of the other ones because I look at it as just from my point of view. A lot of good things were brought up and questions from the audience were really good.

I-Team reporter Shereen Siewert recently traveled to Madison and did several interviews with state lawmakers. One of the items in the works is the idea of some type of lifetime revocation or ban for chronic drunken drivers. I would be interested to hear your reaction or thoughts as far as what lawmakers can do or should do in regard to the issue of drunken driving in Wisconsin?

OK, what I believe is being proposed is after the fifth offense, you lose your license for life. It's a start. It's good. But there's really two different types of people that are drunk drivers. There is a person who has a house, kids, everything and goes out after work, has too many and gets caught ... and there's the person who like me is an alcoholic who didn't care about the laws and would drink. I drove for years without a driver's license. And it never stopped me. But the vast majority of people who have one or two drunk drivings, they may stop and think, 'Wow, they're really getting tough on this. Maybe I shouldn't. I have to be more careful.' It's a start. It's better than doing nothing.

If you were a state lawmaker is there anything that you believe they should be looking at as they move forward in 2015?

For me, I got as far as I did in eight drunk drivings ... through gaming the system and not following through and driving without a license. I mean, that's how I got that many. But the average person that gets one or two drunk drivings, OK, the first drunk driving is a traffic ticket, and they take you to jail and put you in a holding cell for 12 hours to make sure you are OK to leave and go on your merry way. We're the only state in the union that does that. It should be classified as a misdemeanor. And what should be required is you need to go to jail spend a night in jail, go before the court commissioner the next morning and he sets bond. Now, the first-time offender who would go out after work and have a few beers and go home and not really think about it will now go, 'Oh my God, this is real.' The thing is, you're trying to change a mindset. Wisconsin has a different mindset than a lot of states that I have visited about drinking.

If there would have been tougher penalties in place in Wisconsin, do you believe that would have made an impact in your life?

I like to say yes but I am not sure. I am an alcoholic. I have a completely different mindset of drinking than the average person. But I remember my first one (OWI conviction) was a $630 fine and an alcohol assessment. I didn't have to go to court. I didn't have to do anything. I just paid the fine, went to the assessment and it was done. It was almost like, hmm, whatever.

What are some things regardless of passing state laws, that Wisconsin can do to make for a better society?

I don't want to see that everybody who's a drunk driver as, 'Oh, you're a bad person.' But we have to change our thinking. There's a mindset in Wisconsin. There's even a T-shirt that says "Drink Wisconsinbly" ... We have a reputation for being heavy drinkers. I was on a cruise ship with about 120 other people from Wisconsin, and we went as a group and somebody from another state walked up to me and tongue-and-cheek said 'you guys from Wisconsin drink like you're nuts, they should put a fence around the place and send in a bunch of psychiatrists.' It was a seven-day cruise and we actually drank the boat out of light beer. So there is a cultural thing that somehow has to change.

You've mentioned the idea of including photos in the Department of Motor Vehicles driver license renewal registration manuals. Can you talk about that?

A lot of the fatal alcohol car crashes are done by the first-time offender. (If somebody) sees the pictures of these crashes and explain the consequences of the drunk driving like a three-fold pamphlet and maybe the person that reads it will go, 'oh, wow, this person was a first-time drunk driver!' It might have some sort of visual impact. They'll be like, 'oh, wow, that's horrible. I don't want that to be me.' I, as an eight-time drunk driver, never physically hurt anybody, and I thank my lucky stars that I never did.

— John Ferak: 920-993-7115, or jferak@gannett.com on Twitter @johnferak