Former state senator William Carris, who served as Democratic majority leader, was charged with driving under the influence this morning after swerving into oncoming traffic and colliding with a pick-up truck, causing minor injuries to its driver, Vermont State Police said.

Carris, 69, was driving a 2013 Ford F-150 south on Route 133 in West Rutland when he crossed the center line around 8:30 a.m. and slammed into a 2008 GMC Sierra driven by Robert MacMurray,  a 71-year-old West Rutland resident, police said.

MacMurray was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, state police said. Carris was driving 30 mph in a stretch of Route 133 with a 40 mph speed limit. Both Carris, whom police say was uninjured, and MacMurray were wearing seat belts. Both vehicles were totaled, police said.

 Carris was cited to appear in court in August to be arraigned on a charge of suspicion of DUI/drugs, which bans driving under the influence of any drug that causes impairment or drug combined with alcohol that causes impairment.



Carris resigned from the Senate in December 2012 one month after winning re-election, citing chronic back and ankle pain. He had served three terms.

His family had long owned Carris Reels, which manufactures cables and employs several hundred people. The company is now employee-owned.