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UPDATE: More states stoke industry concerns about interlocks

NATIONAL REPORT Maine on Tuesday joined Virginia and Washington state in passing a law that encourages the use of car-ignition interlocks — devices that prevent a vehicle from starting unless the driver passes an alcohol-detection breath test

And in Nebraska, state lawmakers on March 26 gave  first-round approval to a bill that would require first-time and repeat  offenders with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 to install interlock devices in their vehicles. Under the law,  the offender’s license would first be revoked for 90 days. Following a period  of 30 days, an application for the interlock device could be made. The device  would be installed in the vehicle for 120 days.

The devices, which are intended to combat drunken driving, have drawn mixed reactions from the restaurant industry. Some parties assert that the technology could become a common feature on U.S. automobiles, and could be set to detect lower levels of blood alcohol content than what many states currently designate as the legal threshold of intoxication. Those opponents argue that the measure would have a chilling effect on alcoholic beverage sales, even to responsible drinkers. They are particularly opposed to laws that mandate interlocks on the cars of consumers who are convicted of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or less.

Others, including the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, say the devices are an effective way of preventing people with a record of drinking and driving from getting on the road. In addition to promoting public safety, they argue, interlocks address the real offenders of driving under the influence laws, not the person who drinks responsibly.

“Interlocks are appropriate for repeat and high BAC offenders who clearly have no regard for highway safety. It’s of the utmost importance to get repeat drunk drivers off the roads,” said Mark Gorman, DISCUS’s senior vice president.

Under Maine’s new legislation, which the state Senate passed yesterday, motorists with repeat DUI offenses who are caught driving with a BAC of at least 0.15 percent would have their driver’s licenses revoked unless they install interlock devices on their cars for a required period of time. The law also would increase license suspensions for drunken drivers.

The Virginia House and Senate passed a similar bill March 8, but Gov. Timothy Kaine has not yet signed it into law. He has 30 days to veto or enact it.

In Michigan, House representatives also passed repeat offender legislation, but the bill stalled and remains stuck in the Senate’s transportation committee.

Opponents of interlock devices say they worry about laws like the one that was passed March 7 in Washington state. It would require interlocks on the personal automobiles of all convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders. The legal definition of intoxication there is a BAC level of 0.08.

Sarah Longwell, managing director of the American Beverage Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for restaurants that service alcohol, said passage of bills targeting first-time offenders and those with low BAC levels are unfair and ultimately would affect the restaurant industry financially.

“It will have a chilling effect on people having even one glass of wine or beer or spirits with dinner, which thereby will affect sales,” she said. “We as an industry are supportive of high offender legislation. What we’re opposed to are low BAC, first-time offender mandates. That means someone who is one sip over .079 can now get an ignition interlock [installed] in their car.”

Longwell cited the first-time offender law that passed last year in Arizona as an example of how restaurateurs have been negatively impacted on beverage sales.

“Restaurateurs in that state are seeing their sales plummet because customers are afraid to have even one drink with dinner since the laws are so strident,” she said.

Ignition interlock devices prevent intoxicated drivers from being able to start their cars and drive away without first providing a breath sample that proves their blood-alcohol concentration is below a set level.

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