- Beginning next month, a new Maryland law will force anyone
convicted of drunken driving twice within five years to install ignition
interlocks that require a puff of alcohol-free breath to start a vehicle's
engine.
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- The law requires a one-year mandatory license suspension
before repeat offenders can even drive with an interlock, which must be
used for a year. The law takes effect Sept. 30.
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- It was passed by this year's Maryland General Assembly
and signed into law in the spring by Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
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- Supporters say that the law will help reduce accidents,
injuries and deaths caused by drunken driving because such incidents are
often caused by repeat offenders. This law gets repeat offenders off the
roads for a year and then allows them to return only if they use an interlock
system, which is designed to ensure they are sober when they are driving.
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- Critics say there are ways to circumvent the interlock
- such as having someone else blow into the tube.
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- But advocates say interlocks are a useful tool in a society
so accepting of alcohol and so dependent on cars.
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- "They're not a silver bullet. But the fact is if
they're on the vehicle, they do protect public safety," said John
Moulden, president of the Washington-based National Commission Against
Drunk Driving.
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- Maryland is one of 41 states that have enacted ignition
interlock laws in recent years to keep receiving federal highway safety
monies, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
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- Wendy Hamilton, national president of MADD, said the
key to Maryland's law is that alcohol treatment is required along with
the interlocks.
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- "All the research has shown that the longer the
interlocks are on, with treatment, the less likely there is of a repeat
offense," she said.
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- In Maryland, the Motor Vehicle Administration monitors
5,200 drivers who pay up to $65 a month for interlocks as part of a program
that began in 1989.
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- "It's either that or lose your license," said
Michael Conti, who has been convicted of drunken driving five times since
1986 and had interlock installed after a conviction in 2000. After successfully
completing a year in the program, he was convicted again last year and
again has interlock installed on his car.
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- Jane Valenzia, who manages the MVA's program, said if
a motorist stopped for drunken driving refuses a roadside breath test,
the motorist may have his license suspended for 120 days or agree to use
an interlock for a year.
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- For a second refusal, motorists face a one-year suspension
of their driver's license or two years with the interlock.
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- If someone fails the breath test, the length of the suspension
or the interlock requirement depends on the number of previous driving
violations, she said.
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- The interlocks, marketed by four state-approved firms,
range in size and shape. About the size of a cell phone, they fit on a
dashboard and hook up to the ignition and record the date, time and distance
of each trip. Breathing into the tube is required to start the car.
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- Once a month, the drivers must take their cars to one
of 26 service centers in the state, where the travel information recorded
by the interlocks is transferred to a computer and turned over to the MVA.
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- Valenzia said the travel information is checked to see
if the driver has changed his driving habits or might be using another
car.
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- "We know how far they have to travel to get to work
and what their normal driving routine is," she said.
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- She said drivers with interlocks have their driver's
licenses stamped with a code to alert police if they are stopped.
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- Valenzia said that of the 4,843 drivers who had interlocks
last year, about 650 were removed from the program. Some quit voluntarily,
agreeing to a license suspension. But most were removed because they broke
the rules and consequently had their licenses suspended, she said.
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- Valenzia said that a handful of drivers have been arrested
over the years for drunken driving while on the monitoring program. One
man was charged after he had his granddaughter blow into the tube for him.
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- "You have all kinds of people, and some of them
think they can fool the system," Valenzia said.
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- The interlocks can detect a blood-alcohol level of .025
percent, a minuscule amount that will shut off an engine if someone takes
cough medicine or uses mouthwash with alcohol, she said.
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- Participants are warned when they sign up for the program
not to take medications or use mouthwash with alcohol when they get behind
the wheel, Valenzia said.
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- Gerald Hanes, who agreed to use an interlock for one
year after a drunken driving conviction in July last year, said he forgot
that warning and couldn't start his car for a trip to the dentist a few
months ago because he had used mouthwash.
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- He called a 24-hour number provided by the interlock
manufacturer and was told to wash his mouth out and wait 20 minutes before
trying again.
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- "It just made me a little late that one time,"
said Hanes, 62, of Frederick.
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- The interlocks also require random "rolling retests"
that flash a light or emit a beeping sound to signal that the driver must
blow into the tube to continue driving. The retests are intended to prevent
someone else from starting the car, Valenzia said.
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- If a driver fails to blow for a retest, the car horn
honks continuously.
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- Conti said that once he failed to blow into the tube
during a rolling retest and his car horn began to blare.
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- "I pulled into this gas station and it was, like,
everyone knew something was up," he said.
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- Conti, 39, of Arnold said that over the years, his alcohol
problems have cost him $20,000 in legal fees, increased insurance expenses
and fees for driver's education classes.
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- He added that when he was convicted a fifth time last
year, he was given the option of using an interlock for two years or giving
up his license.
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- "It's a good deterrent," he said.
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- But he said that he knows people who try to circumvent
the interlocks, by driving another car or having a friend provide a breath
sample to start the ignition.
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- "There's nothing to keep you from having two or
three other cars and driving them without interlocks on them," Conti
said. "But if you get caught, it's just like driving without a license."
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