• Ignition interlocks have prevented more than 1.77 million would-be drunk drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or greater in the U.S. http://www.talklikemadd.org/books/IgnitionInterlockReport2016/
Ullman, Darin F. International Review of Law and Economics 45, “Locked and not loaded: First time offenders and state ignition interlock programs,” 2016, 1– 13. • The interlock program should be applied to first time offenders who are not just high-BAC offenders. • Additionally, the interlock program provides a low cost solution, paid for by offenders, for a dangerous and often fatal activity that imposes large social and economic costs on society. • To maximize public health, states with weak IID laws or states that currently have no interlock program requiring mandatory participation for first time off-enders, should adopt strong IID programs to prevent future costly alcohol-related fatal crashes. • Findings show that the potential for interlock programs to prevent alcohol-involved driving and alcohol-related crashes is most significant when the program is applied to a broader cross-section of offenders and a higher proportion of offenders have the interlock device installed. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mayer, “Ignition Interlocks – What You Need to Know: A Toolkit for Policymakers, Highway Safety Professionals, and Advocates (2nd Edition), ” 2014. DOT HS 811 883 • The record of breath tests logged into an ignition interlock has been effective in predicting the future DWI recidivism risk. • Offenders with higher rates of failed BAC tests have higher rates of post-ignition interlock recidivism. National Transportatio n Safety Board, “Safety Report Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate Alcohol - Impaired Driving,” 2013. • Administrative license suspension or revocation laws are an effective means of reducing alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities, and such laws could be strengthened by requiring that individuals arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) install an alcohol ignition interlock as a condition of license reinstatement. McCartt, Leaf, Farmer, and Eichelberger, Traffic Injury Prevention, “Washington State’s Alcohol Ignition Interlock Law: Effects on Recidivism Among First- Time DUI Offenders,” 2013. • Mandating interlock orders for all first DUI convictions was associated with reductions in recidivism, even with low interlock use rates, and reductions in crashes. • Additional gains are likely achievable with higher rates. • Jurisdictions should seek to increase use rates and reconsider permitting reductions in DUI charges to other traffic offenses without interlock order requirements. National Transportation Safety Board “Highway Special Investigation Report Wrong -Way Driving, 2012. • Research evaluation of ignition interlock programs over the last two decades has found that ignition interlock devices are effective in reducing recidivism among DWI offenders. • Most studies have not found continued reduced recidivism after the device has been removed; however, one study that randomly assigned offenders either to an interlock or to a control program found a 36% reduction in recidivism for the 2-year period after the interlocks were removed. • A recent study that examined the effectiveness of laws that requiring alcohol interlock installations for first-time offenders, as well as for repeat or high-BAC offenders, found an additional benefit in reducing repeat DWI offenses. • According to one estimate, if all drivers with at least one alcohol-impaired driving conviction within the 3 years prior to the accident used zero-BAC interlock devices, approximately 1,100 deaths could have been prevented in 1 year. • The NTSB concludes that the installation of alcohol ignition interlocks on vehicles of all DWI offenders would reduce crashes caused by alcohol-impaired drivers.
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