Ignition interlocks stopped 350,000 drunk driving attempts from December 2015 to December 2016. Since 2006, ignition interlocks have prevented 2.3 million attempts to drive by someone with a .08 blood alcohol concentration.
Ignition Interlocks, One Year Later In 2016, Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) wanted to quantify the effectiveness of ignition interlocks. MADD had been advocating for ignition interlocks for all drunk drivers, starting with the first offense, for the past 10 years, with the firm belief that technology is the best defense available to combat the tragedies caused by drunk driving.
The findings were both astounding and alarming. MADD collected data from 11 ignition interlock manufacturers and found that ignition interlocks had stopped 1.77 million attempts to drive drunk.
One year later, ignition interlocks have stopped another 350,000 drunk driving attempts and 2.3 million since 2006, when MADD first launched the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving.
As part of the Campaign, MADD’s top legislative priority in every state has been to pass ignition interlock laws for all drunk driving offenders. These small devices, installed in the vehicle of a drunk driving offender, prevent the vehicle from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol concentration is above a pre-set limit. Every state in the nation has an ignition interlock law of some kind. MADD’s goal is to for every state to have the most effective ignition interlock law, which is one that applies to every drunk driver after the first offense. When MADD’s Campaign started, only New Mexico had an all-offender ignition interlock law. Today, 28 states and the District of Columbia require ignition interlocks for offenders with a .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and above after the first offense. MADD is committed to working with the other 22 states to pass similar laws, and to help every state optimize its laws and expand the use of technology to stop the tragedies caused by drunk driving. By combining existing technology with high-visibility law enforcement and development of an advanced technology to passively detect alcohol on a driver’s breath, MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving will create a nation of No More Victims.
MADD released its first-ever Ignition Interlock report in February 2016 with plans to update these number annually.
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