How to reduce drunk driving

A drunk driver kills someone in North Carolina nearly every day, on average. Close to 400 people a year are killed in the state each year, and many more are injured, by drivers with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit of .08.

On any given night, you are sharing the road with more drunk drivers than you care to think about. Most don’t get caught, and most do it again. One study said that the average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before his first arrest.

There’s a way to drastically cut down on that kind of dangerous recidivism: ignition interlock systems, which check a driver’s breath for alcohol before allowing the engine to start. North Carolina uses them on offenders convicted of driving with a blood alcohol level of .15 or higher, and for certain other drivers.

Now, the legislature is considering two bipartisan bills that would require ignition interlock systems for any convicted drunk driver, not just those with extremely high blood alcohol levels. It has been an effective tool in 24 states, and North Carolina should join them.

An interlock system is about the size of a cell phone. The driver must blow into it; if the level is above a preset minimum (.02 in these bills), the car won’t start.

That’s more effective than just suspending a DWI offender’s license. Those drivers frequently get behind the wheel again. The Centers for Disease Control found interlock systems cut repeat offenses by 67 percent, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving says drunk driving deaths dropped by more than 30 percent in states such as Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana and New Mexico after proposals like the ones in North Carolina were passed.

An interlock for a first offense and without an extremely high alcohol level might seem tough. But studies show first offenders’ recidivism is similar to that of repeat offenders, and that offenders just over the legal limit are almost as likely to drive drunk again as those with high alcohol levels.

The two N.C. bills would not change the amount of time the ignition interlock would be on an offender’s car. That would remain at one year for those whose license was originally revoked for a year; three years for those with a four-year revocation; and seven years for those initially given a permanent revocation.

Some, like the American Beverage Institute below, argue that “marginal offenders,” with blood alcohol levels below almost twice the legal limit, shouldn’t face such restrictions. But statistics show that such drivers kill thousands of people nationwide every year.

Ignition interlock systems work. Requiring one for a year after you’ve been convicted of driving drunk is not too much to impose. The legislature should pass HB877 or SB619.

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "How to reduce drunk driving."