The New York Times published this editorial last week advocating that all people convicted of impaired driving - including first-time offenders - be required to install ignition interlocks in their vehicles. The editorial was prompted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of legislation imposing such a requirement for several California counties. Ignition interlock is a small electronic device wired to a car's ignition system. To start the ignition, the driver must blow into the device, which measures the concentration of alcohol in his or her breath. If the amount of alcohol exceeds the established threshold, the car will not start. The driver also must submit breath samples at random intervals while driving. According to Monitech, the only approved ignition interlock provider in North Carolina, these rolling retests are designed to deter drinking while driving as well as the ruse of leaving the car idling outside a watering hole. If the driver fails a rolling retest, a vehicle alarm sounds for all the world to hear. The Times editorial echoes arguments expressed by others, including Philip Cook, professor of public policy at Duke University: one-third of impaired driving offenses involve repeat offenders and ignition interlock has demonstrated the potential to reduce this recidivism and thereby save lives. Indeed, LaDoris Cordell, a retired state court judge in California, wrote a compelling piece for Slate bemoaning the decades it had taken for her state to embrace this "common sense and basic safety" measure. (Hat tip: Sentencing Law and Policy.) Most states, including North Carolina, [...]
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