More people who get caught driving drunk in New Jersey could soon be able to keep their drivers license but would be required to install a device in their car that would measure their sobriety.
Judges have ordered people convicted more than once of driving while intoxicated or first offenders with a blood alcohol level of .15 or more to install ignition interlock devices in their cars ince Ricci’s Law, named for a teenager who was killed by a drunken driver in 2006, was enacted nine years ago.
Drivers blow into the small breathalyzer machines attached to their ignition devices and if their BAC is more than the legal limit of .08, the vehicle will not start.
Last year interlocks stopped 13,500 drivers from driving drunk. Since they became available a dozen years ago, the devices have prevented more than 87,925 attempts to drive drunk in New Jersey, according to the advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
MADD members encourage state lawmakers to make the devices a requirement for all offenders, like 33 other states have done.
On Thursday, the state Legislature complied. The bill mandating all DWI offenders use interlocks passed the state Senate by a vote of 28-5 and the tate Assembly by a 75-2 vote. It is up to Gov. Phil Murphy to decide whether the bill should become law.
“Many individuals who have their license suspended due to drunk driving continue to drive and even continue to drive drunk,” said Sen. Nicholas Scutari D-Union, one of the bill’s sponsors. “That’s the reality of what we need to address and requiring the installation of IIDs for an initial offense will keep our roads safe from those who pose hazards to not only themselves, but our communities as well.”