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#Interlok device drivers install#In tracking more than 100,000 drunken-driving arrests in New Mexico since 2003, Roth has data to show that first-time OWI offenders who do not install interlocks are three times as likely to be rearrested as those who do.Įven those ordered to use interlocks have a favorable opinion of them.Ī majority of the 1,500 drunken drivers who answered a 2005 survey about interlocks said the devices helped reduce their drunken driving and have reduced their drinking. Research has shown that interlocks are effective when installed. "They are like a probation officer sitting in your car, saying if you can give me an alcohol-free breath I'll let you drive," said Roth, executive director of Impact DWI, a nonprofit in Santa Fe. If a driver's blood alcohol reading exceeds the programmed limit, the interlock prevents the vehicle from starting. ![]() #Interlok device drivers driver#To start the car, a driver must blow into the device and register a blood alcohol level that is near absolute sobriety - 0.02 in Wisconsin. They have been called "trigger locks on 2,000-pound weapons" and "behavior modification devices."Īn ignition interlock is essentially a Breathalyzer connected to a vehicle's ignition. "I think technology can really be a significant part of the answer," Doyle said. Jim Doyle said he thinks technological advances such as ignition interlocks can be a useful tool to curb drunken driving in the state. Pete Madland, executive director of The Tavern League of Wisconsin, declined to discuss Staskunas' bill but said his organization in the past has supported legislation that targeted repeat and high blood-alcohol content offenders. "I don't want to excuse drunk driving at all, but I think anybody can make a mistake the first time," Spanbauer said. Assemblyman-elect Richard Spanbauer (R-Winnebago), who takes office in January, said he favors mandating interlocks for all repeat offenders, but not necessarily first-time drunken drivers. Nearly three dozen Wisconsin lawmakers who have responded to a Journal Sentinel questionnaire said they support the Staskunas proposal.īut not all lawmakers agree. The program would require drunken drivers to show proof of interlock installation to get an occupational license. He plans to introduce a bill next year that would also establish a program within the state Department of Transportation to ensure interlocks are truly being installed when ordered by judges. #Interlok device drivers license#Offenders would be forced to use the devices for at least a year if they want a license that allows them to drive to and from work. Staskunas wants to make interlocks mandatory for all repeat offenders, as well as first-time drunken drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.16 or higher. But research has shown that they're effective once mounted. They come with a number of problems, most notably the difficulty of making sure that drunken-driving offenders actually install them. "I like the ignition interlock approach because it starts to change behavior." ![]() "Wisconsin has a tremendous problem with drunk driving, and our laws are not adequate," state Rep. Now, a legislator from West Allis wants to adapt New Mexico's tech-based approach to Wisconsin to help fight one of the country's worst drunken-driving problems. With the strongest interlock law on the books, New Mexico's drunken-driving recidivism rate is down 30% since 2003, helping to make the state a model for curbing impaired driving. "There are a few hundred people walking around that would have been dead if we had the same fatality rate," said Richard Roth, a retired physics professor in New Mexico who has done extensive research on ignition interlocks. ![]() Today, the state's pioneering use of ignition interlocks - devices that prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from starting their cars - is credited with significant reductions in drinking-related traffic deaths, injuries and crashes. Nearly six years ago, New Mexico turned to technology to get tough on drunken driving.
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