GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A candidate for the state senate sits on the board of a national organization that calls for less restrictive driving laws – including DUI laws. Not only that, but the candidate himself has had personal experience with DUI.
Josh McKay is a Republican running for the vacant 7th district seat, which covers portions of Norcross, Duluth, Peachtree Corners and Suwanee.
He had a DUI half a lifetime ago – in 2002.
He now sits on the board of directors of the National Motorists Association, an organization that is critical of DUI laws.
Most new driving legislation tends to add restrictions to laws, like the distracted driving law Georgia enacted recently, barring drivers from holding onto or looking at cell phones while in traffic. But the NMA takes a more-freedom approach.
Motorists should face fewer laws, fewer restrictions and rely on their personal responsibility to promote traffic safety, a spokeswoman told us.
"You can nanny people all you want," Shelia Dunn, a spokeswoman for the NMA said. "But many people have to decide for themselves how much they can take when they drive, like distracted driving."
The NMA was founded during the '70s to protest an unpopular national mandate that rolled back speed limits to 55 mph during an Arab oil embargo that drove up fuel prices.
The group generally opposes laws restricting the use of cell phones by drivers. It even opposes speed humps in neighborhoods – and opposes bike lanes on busy streets. And it also opposes stricter DUI laws.
"We are critical of drunk driving laws, especially when they have dragnets and things like that because many people can drive (safely) when they have one or two drinks," Dunn said. "If you're drinking in excess, you shouldn’t be driving."
When he was 26-years-old, Josh McKay was pulled over in 2002 for a DUI in Gwinnett County. He was booked into the county jail, and then negotiated the charge down to reckless driving..
Now McKay is running for an open state senate seat in Gwinnett County – promoting personal responsibility as a conservative Republican candidate.
"We look at the evolution of vehicles. Vehicles are faster than they’ve ever been," Gwinnett Solicitor general Brian Whiteside, who prosecutes driving infractions said.
He says driving has become more dangerous – and that laws should be tighter, not looser. He sees the National Motorists Association – with Josh McKay on its board – as an unwelcome influence.
"It’s irresponsible in regard to the realities of the world," Whiteside said of McKay. "If you're (running) to be a state representative, I would seriously question your knowledge about what happens to victims [of DUI]."
11Alive reached out to McKay several times over the last month to get his take, but he declined to engage us. His campaign material doesn't appear to explicitly call for rolling back traffic safety laws. He's been running on a conservative platform of more freedom and less government.
He faces Democrat Nabilah Islam in November’s election.
"Georgians are divided on many important issues, but we should all agree that drunk driving is bad," Islam said in a statement. "Someone who wants to permit more drinking and driving is not fit to serve in the legislature."