Let’s make two things clear right away in the Oconomowoc tragedy:

1. Three people died as a result of the horrific crash at Highway 67 and Pabst Road - school administrator Jennifer Bukosky; her 10-year-old daughter Courtney Bella; and her unborn daughter, Sophia Bukosky (and others were injured). I don’t think I’ve ever read a more heart-wrenching passage than the description in a news story about Sophia’s father seeing her for the first time after the crash. Even so, I heard at least one radio station refer to the crash as killing "two people." Three people died, as the law has now correctly acknowledged.

2. As District Attorney Brad Schimel put it in an interview with me this week, "It’s (allegedly) Mark Benson’s fault." Schimel made the comment when I asked him about the judge’s decision to let Benson, the driver of the car that slammed into the Bukosky vehicle, delay reporting to work-release jail until Friday on a third-offense drunken driving conviction. Benson was sentenced for that offense only two days before the crash. Schimel’s right, on one level: The only person to blame is the guy who got behind the wheel.

Conservatives often grow upset by attempts to "blame the system." But sometimes certain crimes do underscore how the system needs to be fine tuned. Or fixed.

That’s the case, for example, with the outrageous revelation that the Madison college student who was murdered recently had dialed 911 and the dispatcher didn’t call her back or notify police. Worse, the public wasn’t told the information until the Isthmus newspaper dug it up using anonymous sources.

And, to some degree, it’s true that the system could have done more in the Bukosky tragedy. It’s about time this state gets serious when dealing with repeat drunken drivers.

I understand people differ when it comes to dealing with first-time offenders, although I support criminalization as a deterrent (many politicians won’t say that; it ticks off too many potential voters).

But when it comes to repeat offenders, it shouldn’t even be a debate - throw the book at them. But Wisconsin doesn’t. Benson got a slap on the wrist the first three times.

(Prosecutors allege Benson was driving under the influence of prescription drugs at the time of the crash.)

Schimel correctly notes that drunken driving is our county’s "most serious" offense, in part because of the randomness. Anyone could have been at the intersection that day.

Our county has some 3,500 drunken driving offenses each year. Four hundred, like Benson, are third-time offenders. That means about 10 people every day are driving around Waukesha County drunk (and I’m sure some of them are actually clustered more on certain days). What are your chances of running across one?

Here’s what we need to change:

* If this is our most serious offense, we should do what we can to lock up offenders right after sentencing. The Mark Bensons of the world don’t deserve the courtesy of getting their affairs in order before reporting to jail. Schimel tells me the delay in reporting was a rather routine action, and Benson had complied with conditions of bail. Benson didn’t need to not comply to prove his dangerousness; the offense itself did. Although I am no fan of spending public money, I’d guess most people would pay what it takes to keep their families safe. People who endanger public safety should start serving their sentences right away, not roam around the community for a couple weeks. This is up to judges.

* Benson’s third offense was last summer. The case dragged on. The county’s fast-track program correctly gets drunken drivers into court within a couple days. Maybe the county needs to develop a plan to decrease the lag in getting them off the streets on the back end.

* Benson could have received one year in the county jail, instead of work release. Third-time offenders have already thumbed their noses at all of us, so the emphasis should be on public safety before their job preservation. Give them the max.

* Third-offense drunken drivers do not qualify for supervision under state probation. Schimel thinks this should be changed. He’s right. That meant Benson was not under any supervision between sentencing and report date.

* Third- and fourth-offense drunken driving are misdemeanors in Wisconsin, punishable by jail, not prison. Schimel is troubled by this because it’s such a public safety hazard. The penalty for fourth offense drunken driving is the same as third offense. This makes no sense. Judges should have discretion to send at least fourth-offense drunken drivers to prison. Fourth offense, at the very least, should be a felony. The penalties should escalate. This is legislators’ responsibility.

* Waukesha County’s alcohol court should be funded after its grant money runs out in 2009, as long as empirical evidence backs up its success. The program sends some offenders into intensive treatment.

Repeat drunken drivers should not get electronic monitoring.

How many of these horror stories will it take?

(Jessica McBride is a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a blogger publishing at http://mcbridesmediamatters.blogspot.com and a Merton resident. Her column runs Saturdays in The Freeman.)