PHOENIX — State Sen. Jim Waring has a plan he said will prevent drunk drivers from getting back behind the wheel after a serious accident: Take their licenses, immediately.

Proposed legislation would make it mandatory for a driver to immediately lose their license if they were involved in a serious accident and had a blood alcohol level over .08.

 The proposal by the Phoenix Republican would require police to seize the license of any driver whose blood alcohol content at the scene tested over the legal limit of 0.08 if the mishap involves a death or serious injury. They would not get the license back for 90 days.

 Waring’s proposal, SB 1008, even lets police take the licens when there is no immediate reading of a person’s alcohol level.

 He said officers will be able to use their judgment to determin who is legally intoxicated.

 The procedure varies from current law where an officer takes  license but provides the motorist with a temporary permit to us while the issue of intoxication is adjudicated by the Moto Vehicle Division. Only after an administrative hearing — or the person does not seek a hearing — can the agency suspend th license, regardless of whether the driver is convicted or acquitted of the criminal charge of driving under the influence.

 But Waring said he does not see the legislation as punishing drivers before their guilt has been determined. Instead, he said, it is a question of public safety, pointing out that this unusua procedure would apply only if there were a crash, and only if someone died or was seriously injured.

 “As a state lawmaker, I’m not comfortable with someone who has been in that kind of accident 24 hours before, let’s say, being able to just go ahead, hop back in the car and drive around,’’ h said.

 And Waring said there’s nothing inherently unconstitutional abou it.

 “Driving is a privilege and not a right,’’ he said, meaning the state can revoke that privilege for cause without the same proof and procedures as would be required for a criminal conviction.

 Waring also pointed out that his legislation would allow the motorist to demand a hearing within 15 days of the suspension, with that hearing taking place 15 days from the time the state gets the notice.

 But here, too, the legislation limits the scope of that hearing to questions of whether the person was in control of the vehicle that caused the accident, the blood-alcohol content, whether th testing method was reliable and whether the results were properl evaluated.

 Waring brushed aside questions about how immediate suspension of license could affect the ability to keep a job.

 “I don’t think if you’ve been involved in that kind of accident that we are greatly infringing on your rights to do anything i we say, hey, we’re going to take a step back here for a couple o days before we just throw this license right back to you and sen you out,’’ he said. And Waring said perhaps the burden of proo should be on the person who has been drinking and was involved i a serious mishap to convince the government why he or she should be driving.