WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) announced that in-car breathalyzers have stopped a driver who is drunk from starting his or her vehicle over 3 million times since 2006, when MADD launched the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving and began advocating for ignition interlocks for every drunk driver.
The data, collected by MADD from 11 ignition interlock manufacturers, was unveiled during a presentation by Frank Harris, MADD’s Director of State Government Affairs, at the Association of Ignition Interlock Program Administrators’ (AIIPA) 2019 Annual Conference in San Diego.
“Drunk driving deaths are down 19 percent since 2006, even though people are driving more now than 12 years ago,” Harris said. “MADD believes a big reason for this decrease is the more than 3 million times an interlock prevented someone from driving drunk along with the hundreds of state laws MADD has helped enact to improve the implementation of this lifesaving device.”
The new data shows that ignition interlocks stopped almost 348,000 attempts to drive drunk in 2018. This is the fourth year MADD has surveyed interlock manufacturers and released the findings to help illustrate how many people would be on the road, driving drunk, if they had not been stopped by an ignition interlock.
“As a mother who lost her 16-year-old daughter to this preventable crime, I am horrified to learn that even after people have been arrested and ordered to use an ignition interlock, they still try to drink and drive. And they would be driving impaired, if not for this technology that stops them,” said MADD National President Helen Witty. “We have so much more work to do, because we are still losing almost 11,000 people a year to drunk driving crashes.”
Ignition interlock laws are supported by every major traffic safety organization and countless studies have found the devices save lives. The most recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found mandatory interlock laws reduce DUI deaths by 16 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ignition interlock use prevents DUI recidivism by 67 percent compared to license suspension alone.
When MADD began advocating for ignition interlock laws for all offenders in 2006, only New Mexico had an all-offender interlock law. Today, 33 states and Washington, D.C., have these laws, and states have made improvements to their laws year after year. In 2019, Kentucky became the 33rd state to enact an all-offender law. Similar legislation is pending in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
“Seventeen states do not require interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, and drunk driving laws in other states contain loopholes that allow offenders to avoid installing an interlock,” Witty said. “The astounding number of attempts to drive drunk by people who have already been caught shows us how urgently we need to get an interlock on every single drunk driver’s vehicle — and keep them on until the drivers prove they have learned to not drink and drive. Every state should offer this protection from drunk drivers to its residents and visitors.”
In addition to laws requiring interlocks for all drunk driving offenders, MADD advocates for “compliance-based removal,” meaning the interlock is removed only after the offender can show no failed breath tests over a certain period of time. Twenty-nine states have enacted compliance-based removal laws, which extend the time on an interlock or add additional penalties if an interlock user attempts to drive drunk. These laws help ensure behavior change and teach sober driving.
According to the new report, these states had the most-drunk driving attempts prevented by an interlock in 2018:
- Wisconsin (41,148). Wisconsin has a drunk driving problem. Even with a subpar law, there were more than 13,000 interlock installations in 2017. Lawmakers have not made an improvement to the law since 2009.
- Texas (32,850). Texas has an all-offender interlock law. There is not a compliance-based removal aspect to the Texas law, but probation departments that implement court-ordered ignition interlock use can extend the amount of time or take other action if an interlock records a driver attempting to drive drunk.
- California (24,459). In 2018, California’s four-county mandatory ignition interlock pilot program ended and was renewed as a statewide mandatory repeat-offender program with an option for first-time offenders. California lawmakers may finally enact a true all-offender interlock law in 2019 after 12 years of MADD advocacy for this law.
- Iowa (14,961). Last year, Iowa enacted a law requiring the use of interlocks for all first-time offenders in order to drive during a license suspension. Like Wisconsin, Iowa does not have a solid compliance-based removal law, which could explain the state’s high stoppage rate.
- Arkansas (14,727). Arkansas enacted an all-offender law in 2009 and has witnessed a significant decrease in drunk driving deaths. The state does not have a compliance-based removal law.
See the full report. To learn more about ignition interlock laws and review MADD’s blueprint containing 201 ways states can improve their drunk driving laws, visit https://www.madd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/IID-State-law-overviews.pdf.
About Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Founded in 1980 by a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is the nation’s largest nonprofit working to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. MADD has helped to save nearly 380,000 lives, reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50 percent and promote designating a non-drinking driver. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® calls for law enforcement support, ignition interlocks for all offenders and advanced vehicle technology. MADD has provided supportive services to nearly one million drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors at no charge through local victim advocates and the 24-Hour Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP. Visit www.madd.org or call 1-877-ASK-MADD.
CONTACT: Becky Iannotta, 202-600-2032, [email protected]
