Pennsylvania Ignition Interlock Update

Posted by Gerald B. McNamara on October 19, 2011

On October 18, the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee approved a new bill which would require ignition interlock devices to be installed in the vehicles of all first time offenders. The current Pennsylvania ignition interlock law does not require first time offenders to utilize ignition interlock devices. Interlock devices cost roughly $1,000, not to mention monthly monitoring and calibration fees, and they must be installed on all vehicles owned by the offender.  So, if this bill passes and you own more than one vehicle, you will need to spend $1,000 to equip each vehicle with the interlock device and pay additional costs for monitoring and calibration fees, in addition to all the other onerous fines and costs involved with a first time DUI.

The impetus behind this bill is a belief that many people whose licenses are suspended due to a DUI continue to drive, even during the period of ther suspension.  The new bill seeks to alleviate that problem and, in its current form, will make it easier for a person with a driver's license suspended for DUI to obtain an occupational limited license (which goes completely against the heavy-handed punishment approach that is usually taken against DUI offenders).  

So, how effective is ignition interlock?  Studies show that while ignition interlock seems to reduce subsequent DUIs,  it is only effective for the duration that the device is on the offender's vehicle(s).  Once the ignition interlock device is removed, the recidivism rate is essentially the same as DUI offenders who never used an interlock device.   This means that, for all the hoopla, ignition interlock is only effective as a short-term solution and only delays repeat offenses, unless the next piece of legislation sentences drivers to a lifetime sentence of ignition interlock. 

Are there any unforeseen problems with ignition interlock?  Yes, a study by the California Department of Motor Vehicles found that installation of an ignition interlock device actually increases the odds of the motorist crashing.  Why would using an interlock device increase crashes?  The answer is simple, after blowing into the device to start the vehicle, the device will ask for a breath sample at random times after the engine has been started.  If the breath sample is not provided in a certain amount of time, the device logs the event and starts up an alarm (lights flashing, horn honking) that continues until the ignition is shut off or until a clean breath sample is provided.  It is not difficult to imagine a driver in this situation scrambling to get off the road to provide a breath sample and being distracted enough to cause a crash.  

Incidentally, this California study also found that use of ignition interlock had no effect whatsoever on the percentage of first time offenders who commmitted a subsequent DUI offense.  I guess that makes the point of this new legislation....pointless.

Public Shaming for DUI

Posted by Gerald B. McNamara on February 28, 2011

"Driving drunk may lead to Facebook shaming" reads the headline.  A city council person in Huntington Beach, CA has sponsored legislation to post the mug shot of anyone arrested for DUI more than once in Huntington Beach.   The council person was quoted as saying, "If it takes shaming people to save lives, I am willing to do it."

In Washington, there is a push to pass a law that publicly identifies DUI offenders by requring them to purchase and display on their vehicles license plates that end in an upper case Z.  These are known as whiskey plates, and originated in Minnesota, whose legislature passed a law requiring DUI offenders to purchase and display on their vehicle(s) a license plate that begins with an uppercase W (thus the name).  Minnesota's whiskey plates are easily distinguished from their standard license plates.

The problem with these so-called collateral consequences for a DUI offender is that they do not punish just the offender, but they potentially punish the offender's family as well.  To those who support these types of collateral consequences, imagine that you are arrested for DUI, your license is suspended and you have to get rides or take public transportation for the duration of your suspension.  However, life goes on for your family and you now have to put a whiskey plate on every vehicle that you own.  So, if your child takes your car to school, it looks like he or she has the DUI under their belt.  If you and your spouse own two cars then your spouse gets a whiskey plate and wears your scarlet letter.

I think that the penalties for DUI are getting to a point that some of them no longer have a rational relationship to the offense.  Penalties for DUI offenses in Pennsylvania and most other states have increased dramatically in recent years.  I don't understand how something like a whiskey plate acts as any further deterrent than things such as potential mandatory jail time, large fines, license suspensions, etc.  If these things do not cause someone to stop and think before they drink and drive, I doubt that a special license plate will help much.  In my opinion, if a penalty does not help deter a crime, it is worthless.  

There is no current push that I know of in Pennsylvania for a whiskey plate, but there is plenty of public shaming that goes on here, from the police blotters in neighborhood newspapers to the unified court system's public docket sheets.

For the holier than thou crowd out there who like ideas like public shaming, I will share something that I learned a long time ago; unlike most other crimes, anyone can be arrested for a DUI....and that means you too.