Studies Tout Safety Benefits of Expanded Ignition Interlock

The National Center for State Courts recently published an Ignition Interlock Report reviewing the latest research on ignition interlock programs. Two of the studies cited reported efficacy rates striking enough to attract the attention of any policy wonk interested in highway safety. Requiring ignition interlock for all DWI convictions saves lives. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania published in 2016 the results of a study comparing alcohol-involved crash deaths in states that required ignition interlock for every driver convicted of impaired driving and states that did not. Kaufan, Elinore J. & Wiebe, Douglas J., Impact of State Ignition Interlock Laws on Alcohol-Involves Crash Deaths in the United States, 106 AM. J. PUB. Health, No. 5, 865-71 (2016). In North Carolina, only a subset of drivers convicted of impaired driving are required to have ignition interlock as a condition of having their licenses restored. Ignition interlock is required if the person had an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more, a previous conviction for impaired driving within seven years of the offense leading to the license revocation, or was sentenced at aggravated level one. G.S. 20-17.8(a). A judge who issues a limited driving privilege to a person convicted of impaired driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more must require ignition interlock as a condition of the privilege. G.S. 20-179.3(g5). A judge awarding a limited driving privilege following any other DWI conviction may require ignition interlock in his or her discretion. G.S. 20-179.3(g3). The authors of the aforementioned study found that requiring [...]