Convicted NY Drunk Drivers Need Ignition Interlocks 911
pickens writes "Starting yesterday in New York state, anyone sentenced for felony or misdemeanor DWI, whether a first-time or repeat offender, will have to install an ignition interlock in any vehicle they own or operate. The interlock contains a breath-checking unit that keeps the car from starting if the offender's blood-alcohol level registers 0.025 or higher, a little less than one-third of the legal limit. 'The addition of ignition interlocks will save lives in New York state,' says State Probation Director Robert Maccarone, who led the team that wrote the regulation. 'It's been proven in other states. New Mexico realized a 37 percent reduction in DWI recidivism.' Whether that will be enough to persuade more people to take a cab or find a designated driver is unknown. 'It's one more thing to make people think, it may help — it may keep a few people from getting behind the wheel,' says Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh."
Wait... (Score:4, Informative)
New York is just now getting these?
Wow, Alaska has had them for a while now.
Or is there something about this that I'm missing?
Re:Wait... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Universally stupid. (Score:3, Informative)
Because there are other things it also checks for to ensure the gas its analyzing is from a breathing person.
These things have been in use for a while, they kinda know the tricks of the trade and how to detect anything short of someone else blowing in it for you ... and that they deal with by retesting after so long of driving.
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:5, Informative)
Are you being sarcastic? MADD wants ignition interlocks in all vehicles.
http://blog.owidefenselaw.com/?p=61
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:2, Informative)
One thing I am learning over and over from anyone who seriously rides motorcycles is that even one drink is enough to lower reaction time and impair your thought processes.
Being awake for 8 hours is enough to lower reaction time and impair your thought processes.
Being awake for 16 hours is enough to lower reaction time and impair your thought processes 3x as much as having one drink.
A chronically sleep deprived person is essentially driving permanently drunk [cnn.com].
Then again, I don't know too many assholes who weave in and out of traffic back and forth in large cars. I see guys on crotch-rockets take incredibly insane risks at 100+ mph weaving in and out of traffic or sliding up and down on/off ramps or wheeling through the breakdown lanes all the fucking time.
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:So you start drinking .. (Score:5, Informative)
To Answer Logistic Questions (Score:5, Informative)
So to address people's questions: you have to make a sound with your voice as you blow and you have to blow strong while making that sound. I think it's calibrated to your voice so if you try a dust buster (not going to make the force needed) or your child you're not going to get your voice. The kid might work if you have enough time for them to try different ranges but it has to be a long continuous breath of full air.
To address the questions about drinking after you start the car, the system will beep loudly indicating you must blow into it again while you're driving or your vehicle will shut off. This happens once every 20-40 minutes.
To answer the questions about why it's 1/3 the legal limit, my (now ex) girlfriend had also been ordered by her program to not drink for a year. If you blow anything recognizable, it locks out you out of your vehicle and reports it. If you don't believe me look at how they keep track of starts [smartstartinc.com]. This isn't something for you to wonder if it's okay for you to drive or to test your friends with. She was warned by other friends with DUIs (that's DUI) that they will get you the morning after if you still have alcohol on your breath.
A month before she blew this, she was in the lowest range and then she blew right on the edge of this range that demanded this. I know there's a lot of people out there that have been negatively affected by drunk drivers but in most states the punishment really can be life destroying. I avoid it by using public transportation in DC when I drink but not everyone has that option.
I'm not against these things being used in serious cases. But your first offense with a DUI
Re:Couldn't you (Score:4, Informative)
Not possible. Friend of mine just got off one of these.
The way it works is...suck suck suck beep blow. You must blow for x seconds...when it beeps, then you have about 1/2 second to suck.
After watching her go through all this crap, my recommendation is - if you have the option of restricted license + breathalyser, or no license for a year...suck it up and go with the no license. It's just not worth the expense/trouble.
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:2, Informative)
religious fundie assholes
Im unclear what the relation between drunk driving and religion is. Or are you taking potshots just for the sake of taking potshots (and tenuous anecdotal occasions)?
Re:1/3rd the limit? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:3, Informative)
It's called planning ahead. Set aside the cab money while your sober, or plan to have someone pick you up.
Re:Let me get this straight... (Score:4, Informative)
The ones here in VA flash the lights and beep the horn, notifying everyone around you something is wrong...just like a stolen car alarm.
Monthly, reports are sent to your drunk school. So if you disable it, they don't get that report and you are in violation.
no, the slippery slope is bullshit (Score:2, Informative)
example: if we let gay people wed, next people will be wedding animals and cadavers
example: if we make marijuana legal, next we will make heroin and methamphetamine legal
the point is, the slippery slope is a rhetorical piece of propaganda used by demagogues to scare people away from logic and reason. the slippery slope only works in a world where no one has any cognitivie faculties and can't tell the difference between gay marriage and bestiality, or marijuana and methamphetamine
people CAN tell the difference, and DO tell the difference, and thus the slippery slope is fearmongering bullshit
Re:Uhhh...what? (Score:4, Informative)
They often to not allow people with convictions to cross the border, or more recently they charge a fee to let you in.
Re:Uhhh...what? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.burglin.com/defense.php [burglin.com]
Looks like it takes at least six months and lots of digging for paperwork. Oh, and $200CDN.
Re:The expense of the interlock... (Score:3, Informative)
You are correct in saying that people reacting less negatively to many smaller changes than to a single large one is not a fallacy. The fallacy part is the idea that one step on the slope inevitably leads to the next.
Re:C'mon people, this is Slashdot! (Score:5, Informative)
I used to install ignition interlocks, so i'll try to answer your questions:
'Hacking' an interlock isn't very practical as they usually require unique hardware that would be a pain to duplicate.
Bypassing them is not at all difficult. I could easily do it in 20-30 seconds with a pair of scissors or side cutters. However the unit will know that you're driving without having taken a test, which is a huge black mark on your report.
Bypassing them and not getting caught on report day is orders of magnitude more difficult, because if your mileage doesn't match the expected test-rate you'll be flagged for inspection. And, at least when/where I installed them, we put tamper seals on pretty much every connection between car and interlock. Cut into anything, and we would know.
As for the test itself, it's not nearly as simple as "blow and drive". You have to take a full breath, seal your lips around the mouthpiece, hum, and exhale an entire breath quite rapidly. Air pumps (balloons, tires, etc) just won't cut it. It's something most people need to practice in order to perform reliably, and I witnessed many, many cases where people just could not get the hang of using the devices even months after install. Suffice to say it is not something a child would be able to perform regularly. A young teenager might be able to pull it off with some practice, if you're lucky enough to own, er, have one.
Also, temperature and humidity are not (as far as I know) measured as a part of the test. The devices I worked with actually had a small heating element inside the head unit in order to maintain a standard test temperature (which sucks in a cold winter). As for humidity, it was usually a bad thing (especially in colder climates) because it would interfere with the very small microphone inside. Air pressure and sound were the two most critical aspects of a successful test. Like Goldilocks, it had to be not too hard and not too soft, and the hum not too quiet and not too loud. Something most people can reproduce fairly often, but very very difficult to simultaneously recreate both elements mechanically.
So the TLDR version is this: The devices were not designed to be infallible, just secure enough to make cheating your way around them a bigger pain in the ass than calling a friend or a taxi. Circumventing them isn't really worth it, especially considering the penalty for getting caught was almost always taking a pair of scissors to your provisional drivers license, a monetary fine, and boot out the door. YMMV.
Re:Uhhh...what? (Score:3, Informative)
Problem is, you are - demonstrably - physically impaired even with very low levels of alcohol in your blood, low enough that you'll say "But I'm not even drunk, what do you think, I'm a pussy who can't hold my liquor?"
If you have a BAC of .03 - .06, effects are reduced concentration, mild euphoria, and relaxation;
When you get into the BAC range of .06 - .10, effects at this point on the "average" physiology includes damping effects on reasoning, depth perception, peripheral vision, and glare recovery.
Beyond that, .11 - .20 is generally where the average "whoa I'm so drunk" feelings kick in - trouble walking, slurred speech, slow reflexes & reaction time, etc. Keep drinking at that point and you get into "pissing-and-shitting-your-pants" drunk & toxic levels of alcohol.
Given that reason, depth perception, peripheral vision, and glare recovery (the ability to adapt quickly to sudden changes in lighting levels) are all affected by the time you are "legally" drunk... I don't think .08 is all that unreasonable.
I also don't think it's unreasonable or all that immoderate for the government to say "when abilities required to drive a car begin to get impaired, you may not drive a car."
Re:Wait... (Score:5, Informative)
Perhaps you should have read the article, where it says that the interlock, "must stay hooked up for the duration of the offender’s conditional discharge or probation — anywhere from six months to five years, depending on the sentence."
It's not a "lifelong punitive impediment." It's a condition of your probation, and it ends after a set amount of time. I think that's pretty sensible - since it allows you to keep driving, which means you can keep working and have a life, but you just can't drive while drunk.
Re:Wait... (Score:2, Informative)
Or move to a city with decent public transit.. Seriously, I've never seen anyone drive to a bar here... (and drunk driving is pretty stigmatized)
Re:Wait... (Score:2, Informative)
It's a misdemeanor in Colorado, dumbass. And quite a few other states. Felony charges are typically over 1 year minimum sentence, and only repeat DUI/DWAI get minimum terms that long. Now, if you cause vehicular manslaughter, or a wreck, or are WAY WAY over the limit (which amounts to 3 beers for the average man, on the low end) you can be bumped to a felony.
Re:Wait... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm [ou.edu]
http://www.drunkdrivingdefense.com/general/bac.htm [drunkdrivingdefense.com]
http://www.bestduidefense.com/BACCHART.htm [bestduidefense.com]
Those are three of the first responses on google. And according to those, 3 drinks in an hour will put you at about a