topic Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed? in Community Chat

Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

lolakimono — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 01:43:04 GMT

Ignition interlock bill would apply to all drunk drivers

http://wtop.com/maryland/2016/01/ignition-interlock-bill-would-apply-to-all-drunk-drivers/

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Supporters of putting ignition interlocks in the vehicles of all drunk drivers in Maryland are moving quickly to underscore how it could save lives.

Del. Ben Kramer and Sen. Jamie Raskin held a news conference Wednesday with Lisa Spicknall, the state program director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

They were joined by Capt. Tom Didone, a Montgomery County police officer and a colleague of Officer Noah Leotta, who was killed in December while working on a driving under the influence assignment.

The measure would require all convicted drunk drivers with a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater to have an ignition interlock. Now, Maryland law requires ignition interlock for drivers with a BAC of .15, nearly twice the legal limit.

*** Here is an example of one such device, used in Colorado.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Noel7 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:04:39 GMT

I know this technology has been available for some time. I'm all for it.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Maudelynn — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:07:30 GMT

100% for it. Once you've been convicted of DUI, you need to earn back the priviledge of driving.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

deepwaterdotter — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:08:48 GMT

It's a great idea as long as some sober and irresponsible individual does not agree to bypass the system for the convicted drunk driver.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

lolakimono — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:10:57 GMT

Growing up, we heard the terms "DUI" and "DWI", but I don't know if there is a (legal) distinction anymore. It seems that the only term I hear is DUI, which is .08.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

MaggieMack — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:24:31 GMT

I have a guy friend who has been wearing an ankle bracelet since last February. He has done great. No alcohol at all. Has to go in twice a week to download the info. The bracelet got in the way of his exercising, so he opted for the interlock ignition. I think he used it for a month before he opted for the bracelet to return. With the interlock, he was required to "blow" at unexpected times while driving, and he said it always startled him. Plus, he had to go in morning and evening to blow at the police station. Every day.

The one problem with interlock is that someone else can blow for you, but they are working on a system that avoids this. I fully support these programs that keep offenders from drinking and drivng, but still productive members of society. I.e., not in jail.

After a year of living under the constraints of this system, I think it will be a cold day before that friend drinks and drives again.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Drythe — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:33:00 GMT

Yes, if not a full blown requirement, at least a major study.

Many times we fail to implement changes because we fear how they might affect people, or how they might not work.

I think we should try and see if they help.

Exploring all potential opportunities to DO something about DUI is a GOOD thing.

Thank you for posting this.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Goldengate8361 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:43:57 GMT

100% for it!! Wish every state would do this. People should never, never drink and drive. I think the world would be a much better place is alcoholic drinks of any type did not exist....or had never been invented. There's nothing.....nothing good about alcohol.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

september — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:45:14 GMT

@deepwaterdotter wrote:
It's a great idea as long as some sober and irresponsible individual does not agree to bypass the system for the convicted drunk driver.

Yes, there are ways to cheat.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

hckynutjohn — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:54:00 GMT

This could be a starting point for this type of testing. Technology is available now that use a person's fingerprints to unlock computers and many other devices.

Unless the fingerprints match that of the convicted DUI individual, the vehicle won't start regardless of what happens after that point. It can also automatically register each failure attempt at trying to bypass this system.

Trying to find a way to beat this system? Add another 12 months extension to the existing sentence. All costs for this technology usage WILL be borne by the law breaker.

Technology is far past something this simple, so I say, let's put it to use. I personally think every vehicle manufactured should have a device that measures the BAL of every and anyone before the vehicle will start? Build the cost into each vehicle, or remove the little known tracking devices already built new vehicles?

Get those Driving Under the Influence, off the roads. They are playing Russian Roulette with innocent people's lives?

hckynut(john)

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

MacDUFF — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:54:14 GMT

I'm all for it. We need to figure out something similar for driving while stoned, but I think a blood test is the only way to determine drugs in your system. Thanks for posting @lolakimono.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Noel7 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 03:00:25 GMT

I suspect it would be possible to test the blow for micro bacteria which are different for every person. I wonder if that would be cost prohibitive?

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

MaggieMack — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 03:13:33 GMT

I know that some interlock systems are equipped with cameras that take a picture of who is blowing. This wouldn't catch the offender in real time, but it does catch them during the reviews.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Kachina624 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 03:22:20 GMT

It doesn't work. We have it here and the drunks either borrow a car or get someone else, even a child, to start the car.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

sunshine45 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 04:00:19 GMT

i live in maryland and i am all for it.

my father and my aunt were killed by a drunk driver almost 12 years ago, less than a mile away from my parents home. my mother was in and out of hospitals and rehab facilities and doctors offices for almost a year.

the drunk driver spent 18 months in jail for killing two people.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

MaggieMack — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 04:24:15 GMT

@sunshine45, sending love and healing thoughts to you and your family. I can't even imagine the loss.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Kachina624 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 04:38:39 GMT

@sunshine45 wrote:
i live in maryland and i am all for it.
my father and my aunt were killed by a drunk driver almost 12 years ago, less than a mile away from my parents home. my mother was in and out of hospitals and rehab facilities and doctors offices for almost a year.
the drunk driver spent 18 months in jail for killing two people.

Herein lies the problem, not enough serious jail time. These people are proven murderers with loaded weapons but after a brief respite in jail, they're out to murder again. We have a huge problem in NM but legislators seem to feel sorry for them because they're mostly "poor people". We don't even have a vehicle inspection for exactly the same reason, yet I see cars held together with duct tape.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

Drythe — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 05:26:06 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
It doesn't work. We have it here and the drunks either borrow a car or get someone else, even a child, to start the car.

Yes, but we know some ways to get around the problem of getting someone else to start the car. Surely, we can find other solutions as well.

I really believe, as with so many problems, we can never FIX if we never START working on it.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

sfnative — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 05:30:52 GMT

Y-E-S !

I've been hit by 4 drunk drivers (believe it!) and one of my first cousins was killed, when a drunkard hit him broadside in Texas.

Totally fed up with the "soft" sentences or none at all that are doled out. I had to once plead with a Superior Court judge in San Francisco that I was not fit to sit on the jury being considered, because in my book drunks driving and injuring or killing people have NO rights. He finally relented and excused me.

Re: Interlock Ignition- In Favor or Opposed?

January121 — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 08:03:43 GMT

I am 100% for this!!!