When the daughter of Roseann and Rich DeRosa was killed in a 2019 crash involving a drunken driver who had been convicted five times previously for the same offense, they felt that they had to take action as a legacy for their daughter, Deana DeRosa Eckman, 45.

After several attempts to get this no-brainer bill through the General Assembly, it finally passed and was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this summer, but it won’t take effect until next month.

The legislation increases penalties for drivers who have three or more DUI convictions. I was personally hoping that the law would bring the penalties after a second conviction. Several other legislators were advocating for this modification, too, but, in the end, both houses of the General Assembly agreed on three.

The DeRosas’ efforts to get legislative action was aided by Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. Appropriately enough, the legislation is known as “Deana’s Law.”

Deana died in the Feb. 16, 2019, head-on crash in Upper Chichester Township, about 85 miles southeast of Lehighton. The other driver, 30, was convicted of third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, along with other charges. He had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit, which is .08%, police said, and he is now serving a 25½-to-51-year prison term. The driver was on probation for one of the other DUIs when the crash occurred.

DA Stollsteimer said the driver should have been given consecutive, not concurrent, sentences when he was sentenced for his fourth and fifth DUIs. If this new law had been in place, Deana would probably still be alive today, he said. “He didn’t care enough about anyone else on that street; he only cared about getting himself bombed that night,” Stollsteimer said of the convicted driver.

Deana’s Law requires those convicted of a third DUI conviction to serve consecutive sentences for each count instead of serving them concurrently, or at the same time.

The law also upgrades the severity of the offenses, increasing the length of the sentence for those with a fourth DUI or more, especially if they are caught with drugs or register an extremely high blood alcohol content.

Another facet of the new law creates a court-administered sobriety monitoring program and makes it a condition of bail for at least three months for someone who is charged with their second DUI offense.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Chris Quinn, R-Delaware. “Her murderer, with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit turned a three-ton pickup truck into a deadly weapon,” Quinn said. “He robbed Deana of decades of life and her friends and family of her presence.”

Of the legislation, Quinn added, “This helps all of our children. This helps all of our loved ones, and you can go to bed knowing that they are going to be safer as a result of this law.”

“Deana’s memory is now permanently enshrined in state law, and Pennsylvanians will be better protected from the worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders,” Quinn added.

The DeRosas said this is not the end of their quest. They plan on continuing the fight to make the public aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, and Rich DeRosa said that with their daughter’s name on the legislation, “she is helping in this effort even though she is no longer here.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com