Fatality Reductions Since Enacting Interlock Law
500
400
300
200
100
0
Arizona (‘07) Arkansas (‘09)
Kansas (‘11) Louisiana (‘07)
New Mexico (‘05)
Oregon (‘08) Tennessee (‘13)
Virginia (‘12) West Va. (‘08)
Washington (‘09)
Year Prior to Interlock Law 2014
Aspart ofMADD’s Campaign toEliminateDrunkDriving , launched in 2006, MADD calls for all arrested drunk drivers with an illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or greater to use an ignition interlock during a court-ordered or DMV-administrated license suspension period. Twenty-five states have laws like this in place.
All-offender interlock laws save lives. Due in part to all-offender interlock laws, drunk driving deaths have declined dramatically and at a better pace compared to the national average decline.
ARIZONA: A CASE STUDY
States with all-offender ignition interlock laws have experienced substantial annual decreases in drunk driving fatalities. For example, the number of drunk driving fatalities in Arizona have dropped by 50 percent since passing an all-offender ignition interlock law in 2007, according to data from National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2014 Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS). In 2015, based on the FARS data, the decrease in Arizona was 50 percent, illustrating the continued progress of one of the oldest all-offender ignition interlock laws in the U.S. These decreases are unheard of in traffic safety, and similar results in states that don’t have all-offender ignition interlock laws could save thousands of lives. Arizona is an example of a state that has enacted a strong all-offender law with a compliance-based removal component. Interlocks are also required for refusing an alcohol test.
When Arizona enacted its all-offender ignition interlock law in 2007, 399 people had died as a result of drunk driving the previous year. Seven years later, drunk driving fatalities have been cut in half to 199 in 2014. In Arizona, offenders who are ordered to use an ignition interlock must show proof that they have complied with the order before they can receive unrestricted driving privileges. In other states, offenders can wait until the order expires and obtain driving privileges without ever using an ignition interlock. Because of Arizona’s strong law, the state has had some of the highest interlock installation rates in the country. This has undoubtedly contributed to Arizona’s success in reducing drunk driving fatalities by 50 percent in seven years – from 2007 to 2014.
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