S.L. 2021-182 Amends Ignition Interlock Requirements

S.L. 2021-182 (S 183) enacted significant changes to the laws that require certain persons convicted of driving while impaired to have ignition interlock installed on their vehicles. Those changes include: (1) eliminating the 45-day delay for a limited driving privilege to become effective, (2) requiring that ignition interlock be installed only on the vehicle or vehicles the person drives rather than all the vehicles the person owns, (3) requiring that ignition interlock vendors waive a portion of ignition interlock costs for qualified persons, (4) removing the time and purpose restrictions on a limited driving privilege if a person has ignition interlock, (5) changing the alcohol concentration restrictions for ignition interlock from 0.04 and 0.00 to a universal standard of 0.02; and (6) directing a legislative committee to study ignition interlock expansion and related issues. Background. Ignition interlock is a device attached to a vehicle that permits a vehicle to start only after a person has submitted a breath sample that registers below the programmed limit. 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 (2016). The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (NC DMV) authorizes private vendors to provide ignition interlock services (including equipment, installation, and monitoring) to satisfy driving and licensure requirements under State law. Ignition interlock may be required in two circumstances. First, ignition interlock is sometimes required as a condition of a limited driving privilege issued by a court. [...]