Eliminating Drunk Driving for Good

By Erik Bilstad

CREATED 5:48 PM

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MILWAUKEE, Wis. – What if there was a way to prevent drunk driving entirely?  New technology could make that a reality.

Ignition Interlock Devices are meant to prevent driving drunk.  Last year in Wisconsin, more than 65-hundred IIDs were installed.

But do they work?

“These devices are so easy to get around,” claimed David Woods, a repeat offender from Door County.  “People just buy another car and register it under a different name, others are driving without licenses.  These (IIDs) are not going to stop anybody.”

“Somebody is always going to figure out a way to get around the device,” said John Vose, of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving – Wisconsin office.  “The IIDs continue to evolve.”

But according to Vose, the ultimate solution will be a technological one.

“In the future, cars will have devices that automatically sense if the driver is over the legal limit,” he said.

An agency called DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) is working on new technology.  One prototype would require a driver put their finger on a reader before starting the car.  Any reading over .08 would prohibit the vehicle from starting.  Another prototype would detect a driver’s BAC via infrared light spectrum.

Every car should have this technology, Vose said. “Vehicles could prohibit drivers who are drunk from starting a car, whether they have been convicted or not,” Vose surmised.  “That will be the day when we can put this tragic issue of drunk driving behind us.”

Using technology in every vehicle is a step too far, according to some.

“It’s definitely a horrendous infringement of privacy rights for motorists,” said John Bowman, of the National Motorists Association.  Instead, Bowman said the focus should be on the “small percentage of repeat offenders who pose chronic problems on the road.”

BAC testing technology may not be popular for everyone, but Vose believes it’s only a matter of time.

“Thirty years ago, if you mentioned airbags to people, they would say, ‘What? Airbags?’” Vose said.  “Nowadays, airbags are a part of vehicle safety.”

Click for Erik’s investigation on Ignition Interlock Devices: Effective Tool or Dangerous Device?

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Officers spotted the driver at Glen Avenue and Howard Street in Altadena on Saturday, said Sgt. Debra Herman of the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station.

They attempted to pull him over, but he refused. After a three-minute pursuit, he stopped the car, Herman said.

Police arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence and his passenger for possessing a firearm. Neither had a permit for the weapon, Herman said.

The men were taken to jail at the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station.

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Tori Vance, a former Miss Arizona Teen, has been arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI). The charges come after several pageant winners have been arrested for alcohol and/or drug abuse as well as domestic battery.

Vance was pulled over after making an illegal U-turn in Hollywood over the weekend; her blood-alcohol level registered at over the legal limit of .08, TMZ reported. It is illegal for her to be even the slightest bit intoxicated, as the legal drinking age is 21.

There has been no comment about pending charges, though it is likely she will have to face some form of penalty. She is only the latest in former pageant winners to be charged with an illegal activity. In April, Miss New Hampshire 2010, Nicole Houde, was charged with biting, scratching and punching her boyfriend during a fight.

And just last week, former Miss USA Rima Fakih was sentenced to six months probation, 20 hours of community service, $600 in fines, and a mandatory alcohol safety course. She was charged with drunk driving and pled “no contest” in order to avoid serving jail time.

“I’m very relieved, but let’s say it got to that point (going to jail). I was willing to pay the price it took because I knew I made mistakes,” she said after the sentence. “My intention was not to drive drunk and put a lot of people in danger. It was very humbling, and I had a lot of people by my side- family and friends- and you learn who’s there for you.”

According to one statistic provided by drunkdrivinglawyers.com, “more than 3,000 teenagers die every year as a result of injuries obtained during vehicular accidents attributed to driving under the influence. Nearly 70 percent of teenagers at one point or another have consumed an alcoholic beverage.”

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It is a startling problem that has been highlighted by celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, and most recently Amanda Bynes. Even though Lohan and Bynes were of legal drinking age, their celebrity status and DUI charges make it seem “trendy” for their younger fans to drink as well.

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The number of deaths from drunken and drugged drivers is down from 18,611 in 1988 to 10,228 last year — and down from a high of 41 percent of highway fatalities.

At the first day of a two-day forum in Washington, federal officials looked to combat road deaths from intoxicated and drugged drivers.

NTSB chair Debbie Hersman noted that the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities has been stuck between 30 percent and 32 percent of overall highway fatalities since 1995.

“We need fresh approaches, renewed commitment and the will — the personal and the political will — to make a difference,” she said. “With so many crashes and lost lives, it could be easy to grow complacent and think the task is too daunting — that we can never eliminate substance-impaired driving.”

Officials argue that ignition interlocks — devices that prevent a driver from starting a vehicle — are key parts of the solution. Many states require them for convicted drunken drivers.

Jan Withers, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the devices can turn “cars into the cure.”

Anne T . McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an industry group that works to reduce road deaths, said one factor in drunken driving deaths is how aggressively states enforce drunken driving laws.

Darlene Schwartz, an official with the Wisconsin Transportation Department, said the state has seen a nearly 30 percent decline in alcohol-related crashes, but alcohol-related fatalities have declined only 6 percent.

Wisconsin has 4.1 million drivers; nearly 590,000, or 14 percent, have been convicted of drunken driving, Schwartz said, adding that alcohol is a big part of the culture in Wisconsin. “That is astounding,” Hersman said.

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