Earlier this month we brought you information on the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for mandatory ignition interlock devices’ inclusion for all DUI and DWI convictions, including first-time offenders. Now it seems another automotive travel association has echoed the NTSB’s statements, making it all the more likely that sweeping national legislation may soon be enacted.

The automotive non-profit organization AAA last week voiced its official support for ignition interlocks as a mandatory sentence term for all drunk driving convictions. Such a stipulation has been approved in Missouri and will take effect next fall. However, 33 states currently do not yet legally require the locks to be assigned to every convicted DUI or DWI offender. AAA called for this to change.

Citing similar reasons of safety as those noted by the NTSB earlier in December, AAA asserted that more lives can be saved with the inclusion of the lock devices.

Both the Distilled Spirits Council and, as previously noted, the American Beverage Institute have come out in opposition to the across-the-board use of ignition locks as a punishment, instead supporting the measure for those found to have a blood-alcohol content of .15 percent or higher. Those found to have lower levels of intoxication, the groups note, should be spared from the installation of locks.

While the nation continues to debate the virtue of ignition locks as a mandatory punishment for DUI and DWI offenders, Missouri residents don’t have much time before the measure becomes law statewide.

In addition to locks, which will follow a person convicted of drunk driving charges for the rest of their life, steep fines and formidable jail time can also come as a result of a “guilty” verdict. The help of a drunk driving criminal defense attorney, however, can help better the chance of a lessened charge and more agreeable sentencing.

Source: LA Times, “AAA joins call for ignition devices for first-time drunk drivers,” Jerry Hirsch, Dec. 26, 2012

• Understanding the consequences of a DWI conviction is the first step toward a successful defense. For information on how to avoid strict sentencing, contact our St. Louis DWI law page.

For those who have been convicted of a repeat DWI or DUI charge, an ignition lock may not be a new concept. Breath-activated ignition interlock devices are frequently included in the sentences of drunk driving cases, necessitating that a driver be below a strictly limited level of intoxication before being allowed to start their vehicle and get on the road.

This form of extended punitive regulation may be extended nationwide to every motorist convicted of drunk driving in the not so distant future, if the National Transportation Safety Board gets its way. Last week, the board recommended that every state assign an ignition lock in every DWI/DUI conviction, including first-time offenses.

The practice of requiring an in-car breathalyzer test for all convicted drunk drivers already exists in 17 states, and is taken to be the best and most consistent means of curbing alcohol-related vehicle deaths, which make up about a third of the more than 32,000 American traffic deaths each year. The interlock devices usually allow a vehicle start only if the driver is below a .02 or .04 percent blood alcohol content.

Other developments are also taking place, ones that Missouri residents facing a drunk driving charge may want to watch closely. The NTSB is currently pressuring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to accelerate collaborative research with auto companies toward implementing a system that can identify intoxication based on infrared light. The technology would examine a driver’s blood alcohol content as the vehicle was started, sometimes literally at the push of a button.

Some have criticized the NTSB’s push for an ignition interlock in all drunk driving cases. The American Beverage Institute asserted last week that such devices should only be required for “the most chronic of offenders.” One representative compared the punishment to speed limits, noting “you don’t punish somebody going five miles over the speed limit the same way you do somebody going 50 miles over.”

Although extended debate may continue over the practicality of mandatory ignition locks, the mandatory installation of one is a clear and obvious intrusion on one’s life following a drunk driving conviction. In order to better the chance of a reduced sentence and retained control over future driving, contacting an attorney should be the first action for those charged with a DWI.

Source: Washington Post, “NTSB recommends every state require ignition interlocks for all convicted drunken drivers,” Dec. 11, 2012