HONOLULU- Supporters of Hawaii’s ignition interlock law are hailing the first year of the program as a huge success.
Since the legislation began on January 1 of this year, the law has prevented drunk drivers with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above from starting their automobiles on 466 separate occasions.
“This is truly a victory for all the people of the state of Hawaii,” said Rep. Sharon Har, a West Oahu state lawmaker who pushed for ignition interlocks after being struck by a 23-year old drunk driver in February of 2007.
As of mid-December, 1,054 first time DUI offenders statewide had applied for an ignition interlock device. With only a few more weeks left before the one year anniversary of the program, 983 drivers have had an ignition interlock device installed on their vehicles. (Oahu: 601, Big Island: 158, Kauai: 28, Maui: 196)
“We're absolutely delighted and frankly a bit surprised at how well it's gone,” said Arkie Koehl, a member of the State Operations Council for the Hawaii chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Even more encouraging to ignition interlock supporters is how many drunk drivers have been kept off Hawaii roads since the law began.
According to statistics from the State Transportation Department, 3,748 car starts have been prevented because drivers with an ignition interlock device blew a blood alcohol level of .02 or above.
A total of 3,282 prevented car starts involved drivers who had a blood alcohol level between .025 and .079.
Two hundred car starts were prevented because drivers recorded blood alcohol levels between .08 and .099.
Another 194 prevented car starts involved drivers with a blood alcohol level between .100 and .159.
Even more shocking is the final statistic - 72 prevented car starts involved drivers with a blood alcohol level of .16 or above.
“We can't tell you exactly how many deaths we would've prevented but at least we can tell you people who were legally drunk were not able to start their cars because of the ignition interlock,” said Har.
In 2010, 38 of the 109 fatal car crashes in Hawaii involved an intoxicated driver, or 34.9 percent of all such collisions.
An ignition interlock device requires a driver to blow through a tube in order to record his blood alcohol level. If the machine detects the driver is .02 or above, the automobile won’t start.
Drivers who participate in the Hawaii program may also be required to do follow-up tests as they’re underway on the road. The ignition interlock device gives the driver a six minute warning to safelty pull over. If the driver misses the test, the machine will record the violation, but won't disable the engine. If a driver accumulates five violations, they have 72 hours to bring their vehicle to a service center where the data will be downloaded and sent to the state's monitoring authority.
Although Hawaii was one of the last states in the country to implement an ignition interlock program, participation rates are already surpassing 10 percent of those arrested for DUI, which by national standards is considered ‘good.’
“Right now up to this particular date, we're looking at about fifteen percent participation and so we're very happy about that,” said Bob Lung, who as the State Transportation Department’s Law Enforcement Liaison helped implement the program.
However supporters say the ignition interlock law can be made even better. Currently, only first time DUI offenders are allowed to participate in the program, which requires they use the device for a full year.
In her ardent support of ignition interlocks, Har stresses that the drunk driver who nearly claimed her life five years ago was a three time DUI offender who's license was revoked.
“It showed me that revocations don't work,” said Har. “What we want to do is to get as many people into this program (as possible).”
During the upcoming legislative session in January, Har and her colleagues in the state House will introduce legislation that allows all DUI offenders, even repeat ones, to participate in the ignition interlock program. MADD Hawaii is also strongly behind the effort.
“We've got loopholes to close and the legislature will be closing those loopholes,” said Koehl.
Hawaii’s ignition interlock program is completely self-sustaining and requires no taxpayer dollars. Those who choose to participate pay $84 to have a device installed by contractor Smart Start, which secured a five year contract with the state. The program requires a monthly maintenance fee of $89; however financial assistance is available to drivers who qualify for food stamps.
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