Michigan’s Ignition Interlock Law Effective October 31, 2010
One of the most important purposes of Michigan drunk driving laws is to prevent crashes, severe injuries and deaths caused by impaired drivers. Still, alcohol-impaired driving takes an enormous toll in the United States, killing approximately one person every 45 minutes. 1 In 2008, nearly 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.2 Of the 216 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2008, about half (99) were riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver.3
Although, there is no single strategy that will solve this serious problem, technology presents great possibilities in the area of impaired driving prevention. One of these promising strategies is the Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID), or more commonly know as the ignition interlock.
What is an ignition interlock? It is a device that is installed in a vehicle's dashboard. Before the vehicle's motor can be started, the driver blows into a mouthpiece attached to the device, which then measures the individual's BAC level. If the driver does not have a BAC level at or above the pre-set level, usually .025, then the vehicle will start. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standards require the "failure" to be within +.01 of the pre-set limit, with the lockout set at .025.
It should be noted that the BAIID also may be set for "running" retests, which require a driver to provide further breath tests at various times once the driver has started the vehicle. The "running" retests stops a driver from asking someone else to start the vehicle and then thereafter, the driver begins to drink alcohol while driving. A "running" retest failure is logged in the driver's data recorder, and it also sends an audible and visual warning so that other vehicles on the highway will be aware of this vehicle on the highway.
In the past several years, the research has shown that the BAIID, when properly installed in the vehicle, is effective in preventing drunk driving. Research also has shown that ignition interlocks reduced re-offending among first-time offenders and repeat impaired driver offenders, with reductions in subsequent impaired driving arrests ranging from 50 to 90 percent.4 Nevertheless, the public, some police officers, and prosecutors are not familiar with the BAIID and why this device is important in combating drunk driving.
The use of the BAIID is beginning to spread across the United States. Soon, the State of Michigan will be one of the states that will provide for more of an effective use of the BAIID for first time offenders in drunk driving criminal cases.
Effective, October 31, 2010, Michigan will amend various sections of the Michigan Vehicle Code pertaining to the BAIID. Some of the key changes are:
- Create a high BAC category of “operating while intoxicated” for individuals having a BAC of 0.17 grams or more.
- Provide enhanced penalties for a high BAC offense. A first offense high BAC would be a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 180 days (increased from 93 days) and/or a fine of at least $200 but not more than $700 (increased from not less than $100 but not more than $500). The maximum community service that could be imposed would remain at no more than 360 hours. The penalties for a subsequent high BAC offense would be the same as for any repeat drunk driving offense.
- Require the Secretary of State (SOS) to suspend the driver’s license of an individual for a high BAC offense for one year if he or she had no prior convictions within the previous seven years or not more than two convictions within ten years. A restricted license would have to be issued, but not during the first 45 days of suspension.
- Require a person convicted of a high BAC offense from operating a vehicle under a restricted license unless the vehicle was equipped with an approved and properly installed ignition interlock device. “Ignition interlock device”, as defined in the bill, would include devices calibrated so that the vehicle could not be started if the BAC level of the operator reached .025.
- Prohibit a person issued a restricted license requiring an ignition interlock device from removing the device or causing it to be removed unless the SOS issued an order authorizing its removal.
- Require, before an ignition interlock device is ordered removed by SOS, verification that the person had operated the vehicle with no instances of reaching or exceeding a BAC of .025.
- Require the SOS to impose an additional period of license suspension and restriction if the person violated the conditions of the restricted license or attempted to operate a vehicle with a BAC of 0.025. This provision would not apply to a start-up test failure within the first two months after the device had been installed.
- Require that courts impose mandatory rehabilitation for offenders convicted under this offense.
Every day, 32 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion.5 Perhaps the Michigan ignition interlock law will be an effective measure that can help prevent injuries and death from alcohol-impaired driving.
Editor’s Note: For more information on these cases and statutes and PAAM training programs, contact Kenneth Stecker, Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, at(517)334-6060 or e-mail at steckerk@michigan.gov. Please consult your prosecutor before adopting practices suggested by reports in this article. Discuss your practices that relate to these statutes with your commanding officers, police legal advisors, and the prosecuting attorney before changing your practices in reliance on a reported legislative change.
1. Department of United States Transportation, NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts 2008.
2. Id.
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. Id.
