San Diego DUI Lawyers Blog
Recently, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1046 into law after the State Senate and Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor, (unanimously with the exception of one “no vote recorded” in the Assembly). This law will require that all persons convicted in California of a DUI, even a first offender, to install an ignition interlock device, or IID, in all the vehicles s/he owns for a specified period of time.
An IID is a machine that is installed in your car’s ignition. In order for your car to start, the driver must first blow into the machine. If no alcohol is detected, the car will start. If alcohol is detected, the car will not start. In addition, as the car is running, it requires additional breath samples with no alcohol detected to keep the car operational.
The penalty will be as follows:
1. First offense: Six month suspension and the IID must be installed for six months.
2. Second offense: Two year suspension and the IID installed for twelve months.
3. Third offense: Three year suspension and the IID is required for twenty four months.
4. Fourth or more: Four year suspension and the IID requirement is thirty six months.
Since July of 2010, the state has been conducting an IID pilot program in four counties, (Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare), requiring ignition devices as part of the sentencing for all drunk driving convictions. In 2015, the California DMV published its report the “General Deterrent Evaluation of the Ignition Interlock Pilot Program in California” and concluded that “the IID pilot program was not associated with a reduction in the number of first-time and repeat DUI convictions in the pilot counties.” (See “Report Documentation Page”.)
So the big question remains: Why extend the program to all counties in California if its main purpose was to deter DUI’s and the study failed to prove that it did so?
If you or someone you know has been arrested for drunk driving, you deserve to have the best DUI defense attorney to represent your interests. Contact the Law Offices of Susan L. Hartman today for your free consultation: (619) 260-1122.