Resource References: MADD Resources
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MADD has worked on both behavioral safety and vehicle safety-related policy, including the establishment of a national .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) standard, and more recently legislation to mandate advanced drunk driving prevention technology. This included the authorization and funding for a research program on drunk driving prevention technology, incentives to states to adopt all-offender ignition interlock laws, and high-visibility law enforcement programs. More recently MADD has led efforts to mandate advanced drunk driving prevention technology on new vehicles.
EXAMPLES OF PROPOSED AND ENACTED LEGISLATIVE LAWS OR BILLS
Ignition Interlocks For All Convicted Drunk Drivers
What is an ignition interlock?
Since 2006, MADD has actively pushed for ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. Today, 35 states plus Washington, DC, require or highly incentivize the use of ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. MADD continues to work to close loopholes in state interlock laws to ensure all offenders utilize an ignition interlock. Research demonstrates that mandatory ignition interlock laws save lives. According to a 2018 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, laws requiring the use of these devices for all offenders is proven to reduce drunk driving by 16%. Interlocks are more effective than license suspension. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), interlocks reduce repeat drunk driving offenses by 67 percent compared to license suspension alone. Studies have found that up to 75% of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license. Because license suspension fails to separate drinking from driving, MADD believes every non-injury related drunk driving offender should be required to use an ignition interlock in order to drive as soon as legally possible - either after arrest or conviction, as opposed to the drunk driver first having a “hard” license suspension period that is often ignored.
If an interlock user is drunk, the vehicle will not start. Interlocks cost around $3 a day to lease, but most states offer an indigent program so drivers unable to afford the device can obtain it at a reduced rate. The interlock vendors, not the state, cover the costs for indigent users. An ignition interlock is a device about the size of a smartphone that is wired into the ignition system of a vehicle.
From 2006 to 2022, ignition interlocks have prevented 4.5 million attempts to drive drunk with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08. MADD collected this data from interlock companies.
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving ®
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