By Raechel Dawson
WNPA Olympia News Bureau
After a Friday night of happy hour and late-night drinking, many fail to consider the repercussions of driving while impaired, but legislators have.
Various changes to the driving-under-the-influence law have unanimously passed the Legislature and become effective upon the governor’s signature. The reform puts more stringent penalties on those convicted of drunk driving including increased fees and facial recognition systems on ignition-interlock devices.
Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, sponsored House Bill 2443, which, he said, will enforce one of the most “comprehensive ignition interlock programs in the country” by strengthening the state employee workforce to properly administer it.
The Department of Licensing takes the reigns of the program from city and county courts.
The bill would impose fees to fund Ignition Interlock Devices for DUI-convicted drivers who can’t afford the device. For those who are required to have the Breathalyzer – which activates the device upon exceeding the alcohol limit – and can afford it, an extra $20 per month is tacked on to the original monthly interlock device fee. Fees are deposited into the Ignition Interlock Device Revolving Account, which then helps pay the cost for indigent drivers.
Stricter rules on who is required to have an ignition interlock device and who may apply for one opens up the number of devices to those who have had their original DUI charge reduced to reckless driving. This, in turn, increases the number of devices needed and generates more dollars.
“We’ve had about 25,000 [devices installed] over the course of the last couple of years,” Goodman said. “This might double those numbers.”
Goodman added that research shows that if the device is in the car, people drive drunk.
In case having a device installed isn’t enough of an incentive to drive sober, the bill also urges ignition interlock devices come with a facial recognition system when possible. This is to prevent sober friends or family from taking the breath test in lieu of the intoxicated vehicle-owner, Goodman said.
Ignition interlock device manufacturers, vendors, technicians and providers have agreed to pay other fees that are estimated to rise up to $877,750 in fiscal year 2013. The money would be deposited into the Highway Safety Account controlled by the Washington State Patrol Impaired Driving Section Projects. According to Goodman, a stronger statewide compliance program is expected to emerge under terms of the new rules.
Fifteen states require sentenced drunk drivers to undergo an Ignition breathalyzer.
In addition to these fees people convicted of driving while drunk must now pay $2,500 (originally $1,000) toward emergency response costs if applicable.
Washington’s number of deaths from alcohol-related car accidents has decreased since 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, but that could be because the national average of general traffic related deaths has decreased as well. The latest data shows Washington’s DUI deaths make up about 37 percent of traffic fatalities.
There are an estimated 10,000 people killed and 350,000 injured in the United States each year, according to a recent Mothers Against Drunk Driving press release.
The DUI reform takes effect Aug. 1, 2012.
