NTSB wants ignition locks for all drunk drivers
WASHINGTON (AP) - Every state should require all convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders, to use devices that prevent them from starting a car's engine if their breath tests positive for alcohol, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
The ignition interlock devices - already required for all convicted drunken drivers in 17 states - are the best currently available solution to reducing drunken driving deaths, which account for about a third of the nation's more than 32,000 traffic deaths a year, the board said.
Drivers breathe into breathalyzers mounted on the vehicle's dashboard. If their breath-alcohol concentration is greater than the device's programmed limit - usually a blood alcohol concentration of .02 percent or .04 percent - then the engine won't start.
The board also urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to speed up its research effort with automakers to develop systems that can determine a driver's blood alcohol concentration using infrared light when the driver presses an ignition button. The vehicle won't start if the alcohol concentration is too high.
The technology, which is sometimes breath-based rather than touch-activated, is already in use in some workplace drug-testing programs. If the technology were incorporated into all new vehicles, eventually all drivers would be alcohol-tested before driving. That could potentially prevent an estimated 7,000 drunken-driving deaths a year, the board said.
The five-member board made the unanimous recommendations after receiving a new study from its staff that found an average of 360 people a year are killed when drivers turn the wrong way into the face of oncoming traffic on high-speed highways.
The board's study analyzed data from 1,566 crashes from 2004 to 2009, as well as nine wrong way collisions NTSB directly investigated. In 59 percent of the accidents, wrong-way drivers had blood alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit, researchers said. In another 10 percent of the crashes, drivers had alcohol levels between .08 and .14. The limit in most instances is .08.
In just the past week, 11 people were killed and 9 seriously injured in wrong-way driving accidents in eight states, the board was told.
"Wrong-way crashes shatter lives and families," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, calling the report and the recommendations a "milestone" for the board.
Older drivers also appear to be part of the wrong-way driving problem, researchers said. Drivers over age 70 were overrepresented in the accidents reviewed in the study, accounting for 15 percent of the wrong-way drivers compared with only 3 percent of the right-way drivers they collided with, researchers said.
Wrong-way driving crashes on interstates, expressways and other high-speed highways are especially deadly because over 80 percent involve head-on collisions in which vehicles close in on each other very rapidly, they said. A study in Michigan earlier this year found that 22 percent of wrong-way collisions were fatal, compared with 0.3 percent for all highway accidents over the same period.
Often the chain of events begins with drivers entering an exit ramp in the wrong direction, making a U-turn on the mainline of a highway or using an emergency turnaround through a median, investigators said.
Most wrong-way crashes - including seven of the nine accidents directly investigated by NTSB - take place in the fast lane of the highway, investigators said. The accidents also tend to happen at night and on weekends, the study found.
Reducing drunken driving is perhaps the most obvious way to reduce wrong-way driving fatalities and injuries. The board hosted a forum earlier this year on the problem of drivers impaired by alcohol and drugs.
Alcohol-impaired crashes overall accounted for nearly 31 percent motor vehicle fatalities 2010. And, that percentage has remained stuck between 30 and 32 percent of overall highway fatalities since 1995, board members said.
Safety advocates have been lobbying states to pass more laws requiring ignition interlock devices for first-time offenders. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, states that already have such laws on the books are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Missouri's law does take effect until next fall. Also, four California counties - including Los Angeles - have ignition interlock laws.
"The laws may vary some, but the common thread is that they are for all first time offenders," Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the association, said.
The ignition interlock devices - already required for all convicted drunken drivers in 17 states - are the best currently available solution to reducing drunken driving deaths, which account for about a third of the nation's more than 32,000 traffic deaths a year, the board said.
Drivers breathe into breathalyzers mounted on the vehicle's dashboard. If their breath-alcohol concentration is greater than the device's programmed limit - usually a blood alcohol concentration of .02 percent or .04 percent - then the engine won't start.
The board also urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to speed up its research effort with automakers to develop systems that can determine a driver's blood alcohol concentration using infrared light when the driver presses an ignition button. The vehicle won't start if the alcohol concentration is too high.
The technology, which is sometimes breath-based rather than touch-activated, is already in use in some workplace drug-testing programs. If the technology were incorporated into all new vehicles, eventually all drivers would be alcohol-tested before driving. That could potentially prevent an estimated 7,000 drunken-driving deaths a year, the board said.
The five-member board made the unanimous recommendations after receiving a new study from its staff that found an average of 360 people a year are killed when drivers turn the wrong way into the face of oncoming traffic on high-speed highways.
The board's study analyzed data from 1,566 crashes from 2004 to 2009, as well as nine wrong way collisions NTSB directly investigated. In 59 percent of the accidents, wrong-way drivers had blood alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit, researchers said. In another 10 percent of the crashes, drivers had alcohol levels between .08 and .14. The limit in most instances is .08.
In just the past week, 11 people were killed and 9 seriously injured in wrong-way driving accidents in eight states, the board was told.
"Wrong-way crashes shatter lives and families," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, calling the report and the recommendations a "milestone" for the board.
Older drivers also appear to be part of the wrong-way driving problem, researchers said. Drivers over age 70 were overrepresented in the accidents reviewed in the study, accounting for 15 percent of the wrong-way drivers compared with only 3 percent of the right-way drivers they collided with, researchers said.
Wrong-way driving crashes on interstates, expressways and other high-speed highways are especially deadly because over 80 percent involve head-on collisions in which vehicles close in on each other very rapidly, they said. A study in Michigan earlier this year found that 22 percent of wrong-way collisions were fatal, compared with 0.3 percent for all highway accidents over the same period.
Often the chain of events begins with drivers entering an exit ramp in the wrong direction, making a U-turn on the mainline of a highway or using an emergency turnaround through a median, investigators said.
Most wrong-way crashes - including seven of the nine accidents directly investigated by NTSB - take place in the fast lane of the highway, investigators said. The accidents also tend to happen at night and on weekends, the study found.
Reducing drunken driving is perhaps the most obvious way to reduce wrong-way driving fatalities and injuries. The board hosted a forum earlier this year on the problem of drivers impaired by alcohol and drugs.
Alcohol-impaired crashes overall accounted for nearly 31 percent motor vehicle fatalities 2010. And, that percentage has remained stuck between 30 and 32 percent of overall highway fatalities since 1995, board members said.
Safety advocates have been lobbying states to pass more laws requiring ignition interlock devices for first-time offenders. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, states that already have such laws on the books are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Missouri's law does take effect until next fall. Also, four California counties - including Los Angeles - have ignition interlock laws.
"The laws may vary some, but the common thread is that they are for all first time offenders," Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the association, said.
You don't need someone else to blow into you ignition interlock device. You just need one of those "punching bag balloons" with the pump. Just blow up the balloon with the pump (careful to keep you breath away from the intake of the pump) and stick the interlock device in the end of the balloon and squeeze the balloon. I had a acquintance that did this for years. By the way, I think he's on his 5th DUI now......I say just stick'em in prison until their license suspension is up, or they will drive (whilst drunk) suspended anyway.
 @Billy Batts I knew someone who used a compressor. Very bad drunk!!
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@Beachlife Yep, this guy the same way. I think he has a vendetta against getting sober and will probably lose his license for life, if he hasn't already. Compressor? I'll give that guy style points for that....
So, if this passes there will be people hanging out in the parking lots who, for ten or twenty dollars, will start your car for you if you don't have anybody sober to do it. I didn't even finish the article and I've already figured out how to make money off of the NTSB's crack-dream.
 @Playanekes I thought the same thing. They need sensors in the steering wheel or seat to make sure the only way around it is for a sober driver to drive.
 @pdx10  @Playanekes That will be a bit difficult if you have passengers and/or kids in the car.
 @Jamie  @Playanekes Why?
How about installing them in ALL government owned vehicles and motorized equipment? I think the effect on - on-the-job injuries and insurance claims might be interesting and a good way to test and monitor its effectiveness.
Lower the allowable level of alcohol in the bloodstream to start with.
Great, but who will pay for this imposition? And what about other mind altering prescription or recreational narcotics? How are they going to address that issue?
Those who are court-ordered to have an interlock system installed front the cost. I've known a few people with these devices, and what the article does not say is that they are notorious for causing starting/running problems in cars. Specialized auto shops install the device, but for some reason it messes with the ground on a lot of cars, causing the car to run choppily, or not start at all. As for blowing into them to start the car, you also have to blow into the devices while driving... they typically require a start up test, then another test about a minute later, and depending on how far you drive, every 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Not a huge issue, unless of course a person is occupied blowing into this device while driving, and attempting to not be noticed doing it, thus causing a collision. I wonder how many of these lobbyists hold stock with interlock systems?
@jpk not to mention all the tavern parking lots filled with blondes trying to suck-start their cars.
I'll bet those that hold political positions are exempt. Ignition interlocks are only for us surfs.