California DUI: Mandatory Ignition Interlock Devices (IID)
How Do Ignition Interlock Devices Work?
An ignition interlock device, often referred to as an "IID", is an apparatus that attaches to an automobile's dashboard to test for alcohol on a driver's breath, and prevents the vehicle from starting if a BAC above a preset level is detected.
The ignition interlock device includes a small handheld alcohol sensor that the driver must blow into in order to start the ignition, and also requires the driver to perform a "rolling" breath test every few minutes while driving to keep the vehicle running. The intermittent breath tests are designed to prevent someone sober, other than the intended driver, from starting the car and then allowing an impaired driver to take over the wheel.
Use of Ignition Interlocks in San Diego, California
Although the Ignition Interlock Device requirement is mandatory for repeat drunk driving offenders in San Diego County, and at the judge's discretion for first time San Diego DUI offenders, no conclusive studies have been performed on the effectiveness of IIDs in reducing DUI recidivism.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is now proposing to take the Ignition Interlock Device program out of the courts, where it is currently run, make it administrative in nature, and run by the DMV to include the following provisions:
1.Second time DUI offenders under a post-conviction drivers license suspension action would be allowed to reinstate their driving privileges early with a restriction to interlock-installed vehicles.
2.Courts would continue to be given discretion in sanctioning first time DUI offenders to IIDs, but the law would specify that first time drunk driving offenders with BACs at arrest of 0.15% or greater, two or more traffic violations, or who refuse a chemical test of their BAC be considered strongly for Ignition Interlock Device sanctions.
3.California drunk driving offenders who are subsequently convicted of driving while on a suspended license for DUI reasons would be subject to mandatory interlock.
4.The IID sanction would be offender-based rather than vehicle-based. An Ignition Interlock Device would have to be installed on a vehicle owned by the offender, but if no vehicle was owned or it was subsequently sold and not replaced, the sanction would remain on the driver's record. The offender could then legally drive only other vehicles which had IIDs installed for the duration of the IID sanction.
The three top ranked target DUI offender groups are repeat drunk driving offenders, all offenders who violate a DUI license suspension or drivers license revocation, and first time DUI offenders with high BAC levels at the time of their arrest on drunk driving charges.
The cost of the Ignition Interlock device to the DUI offender is estimated at $60 per month.
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