Should convicted drunk drivers be forced to pass an alcohol breath test before starting their cars? Should everyone?
For more than 20 years, special breathalyzers -- hard-wired to a car's ignition to prevent the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected -- have been installed under judicial order in the cars of repeat, or especially egregious, alcohol offenders. But in the last few years, six states have passed laws that require the devices, called ignition interlocks, in the cars of everyone convicted of driving under the influence.
Now, several more states, including California, are considering making interlocks mandatory for all offenders. A bill could pass the state Assembly next week. And a group of automakers has launched a major project with the federal government to develop advanced technologies that could someday make alcohol detectors a standard feature in all cars.
Advocates of interlocks, particularly Mothers Against Drunk Driving, say the devices could reduce the nation's estimated 17,000 annual alcohol-related automotive fatalities, and thereby ease the burden that drunk driving places on the nation's criminal justice system.
"We would like to have all 50 states applying it for all convicted drunk drivers," said MADD Chief Executive Chuck Hurley. He said there had been no significant drop in alcohol-related fatalities in more than a decade. "This is the best way of keeping alcohol off the road."
Critics, led by the American Beverage Institute and lawyers specializing in DUI defense, contend that ignition interlocks aren't as effective as claimed and are a burdensome invasion of privacy. The institute represents restaurants such as Outback Steakhouse and Chili's.
This month, the beverage institute ran full-page ads in USA Today and the New York Times showing mug shots of celebrities convicted of drunk driving, including Lindsay Lohan and Kiefer Sutherland, saying that interlocks should be used only for "hard-core drunk drivers."
"This is an effort to educate the public about the threat of universally mandated ignition interlocks," said Sarah Longwell, managing director of the institute.
Her group worries that laws requiring the devices for all convicted drunk drivers would discourage consumers from having a drink at dinner, costing the restaurant industry untold sums of money.
