Residents in California have good reason to be concerned about the problems associated with drunk driving. Despite the fact that there has been widespread education about how alcohol impairs a person’s judgment over the past few decades, drivers refuse to give up their keys even when they know they will be drinking. Every year, numerous lives are lost at the hands of drunk drivers.
Another part of the problem with drunk driving is that many of the people who are arrested or who cause accidents after they have been drinking have been arrested and convicted of prior impaired driving offenses. It seems that people simply will not learn from the first experience in many cases. This is part of why California has now enacted a new law that requires the installation and use of an ignition interlock device for anyone convicted of a second or subsequent offense for driving under the influence. Drivers would be required to use IIDs for at least 12 months.
As reported by ABC News, however, California’s requirements for IIDs still leaves it far behind the majority of the nation. In the nation’s capital and in 32 other states, the use of an ignition interlock device is mandatory for any driver convicted of drunk driving regardless of the presence or lack thereof of any prior offenses.
Some people with no prior offenses in California may still have to install ignition interlock devices if any injuries were associated with their arrests. In these cases, IIDs would be required for six months.