May 7, 2014

Bolinsky Applauds Law to Install Breathalyzers In Cars for those Arrested for DUI

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HARTFORD- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106 Newtown) hailed legislation which will decrease the number of drivers operating vehicles while under the influence in Connecticut.

Bolinsky said, “I have heard from constituents in support of this measure, including from students at Newtown High School. If this legislation saves even one life, it’s great policy but, truth be told, alcohol related motor vehicle fatalities number 10,000 per year. Nearly one out of every three U.S. motor vehicle crash deaths is the result of a drunk driver. This legislation will, in a very large part, cure this epidemic, using license identification and application of interlock devices to save lives by preventing repeat offenses by convicted drunk-drivers.”

SB-465, An Act Concerning Ignition Interlock Devices, prohibits persons arrested for a crime of DUI from operating a vehicle unless equipped with IID, establishes a specific identifiable operators’ for persons subject to an IID restriction on their driver’s license. The bill requires the driver to install and maintain an IID on each motor vehicle he or she owns or operates as a condition of license restoration.

Under current law, the DMV commissioner must allow someone whose license has been suspended after a first or second DUI conviction to operate a vehicle if the person has (1) served the required suspension under the DUI conviction, even if the person has not completed any administrative per se suspension and (2) meets IID requirements.

In 2011, state legislation was passed requiring ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders for drunk driving. The latest statistics show that alcohol related traffic fatalities in CT were reduced by nearly 10 percent since the passage of that bill.

According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) the typical person convicted of his or her first DUI offense has driven drunk as much as 80 times before getting caught. We know that 1/3 of persons convicted of DUI will be convicted of DUI yet again. Interlocking devices have been shown to deter drinking and driving in both a specific sense and general sense. DUI offenders using interlocks have acknowledged that the devices have changed their behavior.