Explaining ignition interlock device rules as a DUI penalty

Q In response to a question as to how to make it more clear that driving under the influence is an ongoing problem, I think one solution is to increase the penalty. Too often, a drunken driver who causes an injury or fatal accident has been charged with DUI in the past but was given a mild sentence, especially firsttime offenders.

— Cathryn Floyd,

Sunnyvale

A

Utah just enacted the toughest anti-DUI law in the country, lowering the blood-alcohol level to .05 percent, compared with .08 in other states. That’s like limiting a driver to one or two glasses of wine. But neither California nor anyone at the federal level is looking to follow Utah’s lead, says Natasha-theMADD-Chief in Northern California.

Q

Because drinking is socially accepted and encouraged, the punishment rarely fits the crime until someone dies — usually not the drunk. Perhaps mandatory jail time, perhaps a minimum of one year, will give drinkers pause before getting behind the wheel. — Cathryn Floyd

A

Maybe this will. California now requires repeat offenders for driving under the influence and first DUI offenders whose violations resulted in injury to install an ignition interlock device for a period ranging from 12 to 48 months.

This law also allows those who receive a suspension to obtain an IIDrestricted driving privilege and receive credit toward their required IID restriction period if they later are convicted of a DUI. Courts have the discretion to order a noninjury first DUI offender to install an IID for a period of up to six months.

Previously, an IID pilot program was in effect only in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties. Now it will cover all 58 counties.

More than 1,000 people die and over 20,000 are injured each year in California as a result of drunken driving.

In the past 30 years, more than 50,000 people have died and over 1 million have been injured because of drunken drivers in our state.

But from 2006 to 2017 in California, IIDs are credited with stopping 220,792 drunken-driving attempts by people with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher, according to research by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Across the U.S. over the same period, IIDs prevented 2.7 million drunken-driving attempts, the MADD study found.

Q

How do these things work? — Fred Perez San Jose

A

An IID is about the size of a cellphone and wired to your vehicle’s ignition. The driver blows into the device and prevents a car from starting if the driver is not sober. As you drive, you are periodically required to provide breath samples to ensure there’s no alcohol in your system.