Drunk driving kills heroes too. My son, Matt, was in his third year at the United States Naval Academy in 2001 and an honor student inline for flight, when he was killed by a multiple suspended drunk driver while home on leave. Matt was killed in Santa Clara County by a man with a blood alcohol content of 0.9.
Before you sympathize with me for the loss of my son, consider the fact that every Californian faces the threat of drunken driving every time they drive on our roadways.
According to new data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, California’s families are sharing the road with 310,971 drunk drivers with three or more DUI convictions, and of those, 44,210 with five or more convictions. In 2006 alone, drunk drivers killed 1,276 of our states citizens.
These numbers show that California’s law enforcement agencies are doing their job – finding and arresting drunk drivers. Unfortunately, the rest of the judicial system has failed to protect the public. Mandatory alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers would stop the revolving door of repeat offenders.
As a nurse in a large East Bay Trauma Center, a long time volunteer leader for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and as a mother who lost her son to a drunk driver, I can say that no parent should have to lose their child to the criminal negligence of a drunk driver - especially when technology exists to prevent such tragedy.
Right now, California has the opportunity to make a real difference in this effort. AB 91 has successfully passed through the California State Assembly (77-0) and the California State Senate (34-4). We urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign AB 91 and allow hundreds of lives to be saved and millions of dollars saved the state. It is estimated twenty five percent of the average auto policy holder’s premium in California is due to DUI’s on our roadways. According to the Marian Institute the state of pays $12.4 billion annually for DUI crashes.
Proven technology to save lives currently exists, but is not being used. Alcohol ignition interlock devices prevent a vehicle from starting if a convicted offender demonstrates that they are violating probation by continuing to drink and drive. Interlocks are proven to save lives, yet very few California offenders get the device.
Installing interlocks on the vehicles of all drunk driving offenders has the potential to save hundreds of lives and at the same time give offenders the ability to drive and not endanger the public. If all states mandated interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, we could save up to 4,000 lives a year. The drunk driver pays for the entire cost of the device, not the taxpayers. Implementation of interlocks will help unclog the courts and the jails of California.
Some say that interlocks don’t work. They are wrong. I have had one on my car for the last ten months, twice the length of time a first time convicted offender would be required to have one installed on their vehicle. I have not had one malfunction. I have waited in the same shops as offenders to have my monthly and bi-monthly calibrations done and spoken to offenders who did not put the device on their vehicle voluntarily, but are keeping it on their vehicle voluntarily because what it has done for them. Interlocks are proven to be up to 90 percent effective in reducing recidivism while on vehicles. The real issue is not the effectiveness, but the use of interlocks – we need laws to make the interlocks mandatory for all convicted drunk drivers.
To prevent future drunk driving tragedies, Assembly Member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation (AB 91) that would require a pilot study in four California counties; Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento, and Tulare, mandating alcohol ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, including first time convictions. This bill has the potential to save hundreds of lives by reducing drunk driving in California. This bill is supported by a multitude of health care organizations, such as the American Nurses Association, Emergency Nurses Association, California Hospital Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as a long list of law enforcement agencies, and insurance organizations. The opposition is the alcohol industry; American Beverage Institute, California DUI attorneys, and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Those facts speak volumes.
Some say that interlocks are too severe a punishment for those convicted of drunk driving. Compared to what my family lost on July 29, 2001 when a repeat DUI offender, arrested on at least two prior occasions, thought he had a right to drive after enjoying a few beers, an alcohol ignition interlock device is a fairly lenient sanction and is as much protection for him and his family as it would have been for mine. It allows offenders to keep their jobs, family, and ability to drive. They just can’t continue to violate the public trust by driving drunk.
Please visit www.madd.org to contact Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to let him know of your support for AB 91, a pilot study calling for mandatory ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers in four California counties.
Mary Klotzbach, RN BSN, is Chair of the MADD Public Policy Committee for California. She wrote this article for the Mercury News, but it was never published.
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Mary,
ReplyDeleteTodays politics have even hit the DUI check points. Do to the fact of too many people of a certain race have been arrested downtown, several of the scheduled check points in San Jose were cancelled. They were also moved out of any area were the Mercury News could print a profile story. Its a shame. Additionally all DUI cars were ordered out of the East Side of San Jose. Its sad the people in these areas want to protect their babies and family. Under pressure we failed them, do to the public perception issued by the Mercury News