The Ignition Interlock for Drunk Drivers
The ignition interlock is a high tech system that eveuates the persons BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) to see if the individual has been drinking. The device works like a normal Breathalyzer. The device is mounted on the dashboard and in order for the car to start the individual must blow into the machine. The machine then evaluates the persons BAC and if that person shows no sign of alcohol use the car will start. If the results come back saying he has consumed alcohol the vehicle will not start. When the vehicle starts and has been for around an hour the person must again blow into the machine to once again evaluate the person’s condition. The maximum aloud limit is .04 mg of alcohol per 100mL of blood. Each time the individual uses the system and small computer records information. The system it self costs around 135.00 with a maintenance fee of about 100.00 a month.
The hypotheses for this program are: Is the ignition interlock program effective in reducing impaired driving recidivism? Does it have an impact on more serious, persistent impaired drivers? Finally, does the program continue to be effective even after the interlock device is removed? (Weinrath)
Random sampling of Canadian drivers who had their license suspended between 1989-94 did the I.I.P. (Ignition Interlock Program). The sample was done with 994 offenders’ age 20 and up. 125 of them were female, 701 were male and 189 ignition interlock cases. The breakdown was 168 I.I.P cases and 826 drunk driving offenders for the comparison group. These tests were done in Canada and others were done in states of Ohio, California and Oregon. The problems for those tests were inaccurate data received from the tests. In Ohio and California no control groups was used and the data fail to give them the correct info. The control group was used in Oregon with two sides one group was created using reinstated drivers that never had the program. Using the offenders who used the I.I.P. Due to its short experiment time it was hard to get any long-term data out of the study created the other group.
Referring back to the samples taken in Canada. 87% of them were men in there 30’s who were employed (75%). 43% of them were married living in normal relationship. 57% of them were single or divorced or widowed.
...ften- perhaps 50-65% by the time they are forty. This data has only gotten worse. Women today are having more affairs in the workplace and on the Internet. Female figures are now probably catching up to those of men (Vaughan 2). These statistics are alarming.
Hingson, Ralph. "Prevention of Drinking and Driving." Alcohol Research & Health. Winter 1996-1997: 219-226. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most drivers that have only one or two drinks feel fine, and assume they are in control, which is irresponsible and dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's ability to react and impairs judgment. To drive well, you need to be able to have a quick reaction time to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, people continue to drink and drive. However,...
Those with a first or second alcohol offense have the option of either losing their driving privileges for a time or installing the device and keeping their regular driving privileges. For a third offense within 10 years or the fourth overall, the ignition interlock is required for the person to continue driving. Those who receive a Criminal Vehicular Operation Conviction involving alcohol are
Interlocks have been found to be very effective in reducing repeated or habitual relapse amongst offenders with an average of 3.5 convictions (That is a 65% reduction in this group, with a year's interlock program) this was found in a study by The University of Maryland.
“Drink the first. Sip the second slowly. Skip the third. The speedway ends at the cemetery” (Rockne). Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol related crashes totals more than 51 billion. In Recent discussions of drunk driving, a controversial issue has been whether the driving while intoxicated laws should be increased due to the amount tax payers are paying for drunk driving crashes. On the one hand. Some argue that the driving laws for driving drunk should remain the same and not change. From this perspective the laws about driving under the influence should greatly increase to be stricter, this will help decrease the death rate per year in the United States. On the other hand, however others argue that the laws about driving while drunk are already too strict and should remain unchanged. In sum, then, the issue is whether the laws about driving drunk should be greatly increased to be more effective, or remain unchanged. Because drunk driving can result in unnecessary and premature deaths, unsafe roadways, billions of dollars spent on taxpayers due to DUI’S, and losing a loved one. Drunk driving laws should be altered to be more efficient.
Drunk driving is a problem that we hear about every day and it is something that effects everyone, but it only becomes real when it affects us directly. What we don’t know is when a problem like drunk driving will become “real” for us. Drunk driving is an issue that has taken a toll on our country and should be stopped. Drunk driving has been an increasing problem for many years. It effects not only the driver but all of society. The good thing is there are many ways the percentage of drunk drivers can be reduced. Although many people believe drunk driving doesn't affect them because they don't drink and drive, it is something that affects the whole community.
Yu, J. (1994). Punishment celerity and severity: Testing a specific deterrence model on drunk driving recidivism. . Journal of Criminal Justice , 22, 355-366.
Fell et al., suggests that the clinical assessment of each offender, the period under treatment, the frequent monitoring, the partnerships with other agencies, and the leadership of the judges all seem to play a role in the reduction of recidivism in DUIs. DUI Courts, using DUI statutory conviction requirements as the structure of the program, bring together the various professionals needed to ensure a thorough clinical evaluation, treatment assessments, probation monitoring, and offender adjudication.
Main Point I: I’d like to start off by talking about the penalties of drinking and driving. Did you know that drunk driving is the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime? A chronic drunk driver is a person who has driven over 1,000 times before being caught. They do not respond to social pressures, law enforcement, and the messages that have been combined to reform the drinking and driving behavior of our society.
Impaired driving is a major issue in our society and is an issue that can easily be preventable unlike many other legal issues. The punishment of impaired driving is barely considered when impaired drivers operates a vehicle while under the influence. It is seen as lenient and study shows that it is a conviction that is repeated multiple times. In order to avoid all of these issues and to fill in the flaws of our government system, the punishments regarding the accused’s conviction of crimes related to impaired driving should be far stricter than the current punishments in order to completely stop impaired driving within our flawed
Driving under the influence is extremely dangerous. Those who drink and drive tend to have an increased risk of car accidents, highway injuries, and vehicular fatalities. However, there are countless ways to prevent drunk driving. Professor David J. Hanson at the sociology department at the State University of New York states that “designated drivers have saved nearly 50,000 lives and spared many more thousands of people from suffering injury from drunk driving. It is a proven fact that almost 30 people in the US die every day in a motor vehicle accident involving a driver impaired by alcohol.” Every accident caused by drunk driving is one hundred percent preventable.
middle of paper ... ... Actually, drivers with ignition interlocks have fewer alcohol accidents than those who are punished by suspending their license. Some states have great success with interlocks already. After authorizing strict interlock laws in 2007, Arizona and Louisiana both cut drunken driving deaths by more than 36% in only four years.
Once an individual makes the decision to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol they are not only putting themselves at risk but the lives of other people on the road. After reviewing the Annual Report of the California DUI Management I was astonished to find that in 2008 there were a total of 214,811 DUI arrests (Annual Report). Of those 214,811 arrests I was sickened to find that 38,266 of the drivers were a second-offender (Annual Report). This means that these individuals have had one DUI arrest within the previous ten years. It is disheartening for me to discover that 26.4% of the reported 214,811 arrests are due to individuals who were second to fourth-offenders.
While when combined, speeding and distracted driving are the most common causes for car accidents, each year around 13,000 people are killed by drunk drivers with a blood alcohol level above .08, taking the number one spot for car accidents (Should Cars). If we don’t stop this, then more people could be dying from something that could be prevented easily with the installment of an ignition interlock system. Some 47 states currently have in-car Breathalyzer laws. New Mexico was the first state to mandate interlock installation for first-time DUI off...