Highly intoxicated drivers and minors caught drinking illegally will face automatic driver's license suspensions under two bills signed into law yesterday.

Another bill signed by Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona expands the offense of underage drinking to include consumption and ingestion of alcohol, rather than just purchase and possession.

Taken together, the three laws give more teeth to law enforcement and prosecutors hoping to reduce the incidence of drunken driving and underage drinking.

City prosecutor Peter Carlisle said that the highly intoxicated driver law — which targets drivers with blood alcohol levels 0.15 and above, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 — targets a dangerous type of criminal.

"The vast majority of people who have not been experienced, acclimated or alcoholic type drinkers cannot get to that level without throwing up, so by the time you get to a 0.15 you are seriously, seriously impaired. You are flat-out drunk in my opinion," he said.

The law tacks a mandatory six-month driver's license suspension onto other penalties, which include jail time, fines and community service.

Carlisle expects the underage drinking laws to also prevent alcoholism by deterring minors from drinking until their brains mature after age 21.

Aiona, who has been pushing for stricter underage drinking laws for the past three years, expects the mandatory 180-day license suspension — or delaying eligibility for driving privileges — will make minors think twice before breaking the law.

"As a (former) Family Court judge, I know for a fact that the driving privilege of someone under the age of 21 is like gold. It's like a million dollars. If you take that privilege away, you'll not only get their attention, but I think you'll get compliance on their part," Aiona said.

By expanding the underage drinking offense to include consumption, police will have an easier time cracking down on kids drinking in parks or at parties.

Honolulu Police Sgt. Robert Lung said this means that police don't need to catch minors actually drinking or holding alcohol containers in hand.

"We do have a problem where a lot of the (traffic) fatalities involve drinking and the underaged," he said. "The underaged are highly over-represented in this particular area."

The law does not require officers to give minors Breathalyzer or blood tests to determine whether they are intoxicated.

Carlisle does not expect this to cause a problem in court: "If you go to a party at a house and you see someone who is staggering, someone who reeks of alcohol, someone whose eyes are glassy and three witnesses who say, 'Yeah, she's 14 years old and she just consumed a pint of whiskey,' do I think we have enough to go in that case? Yes."

The bills also make sense from a public health standpoint, said state Department of Health Director Chiyome Fukino.

They should also send a clear message to drivers of all ages to refrain from driving drunk. "Whether you're 15 or 50-plus and all the ages in between, drinking and driving is a big no-no," she said.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.