By Molly Lovell
Editor
     Possibility of the state implementing the Ignition Interlock Device (IID) program is moving along in Augusta. If the legislature approves the bill sponsored by Senator Lynn Bromley (D-Cumberland County) the program could be in effect by the first of the year.
     An IID is an analyzer that monitors the concentration of alcohol on the breath of any person who attempts to start a vehicle by using the ignition system. It prevents the vehicle from starting unless the person provides a breath sample with a concentration of alcohol that is below a preset level.
     “Current penalties don’t prevent people from drinking and getting into a car,” Bromley said. “I just thought that there must be something else we could do.”
     Last month the criminal justice and pubic safety committee saw a demonstration of how an IID would work.
     Paul Gaspar, a law enforcement official with the Maine association of police volunteered to test the device.  Before the meeting he consumed three alcoholic beverages. The IID indicated that Gaspar had a blood alcohol content of .02 or higher, a level that would have prevented him from starting his vehicle.
     Details about when an OUI offender would be required to have one of these devices put in their vehicle is up for debate Bromley said.
     Maine OUI statistics indicate that there are 4,000 to 4,500 first time OUI offenders and 2,000 to 2,500 second time offenders. “You have got to think that 1,500 of them got the message the first time. We don’t want to be unusually heavy, but at the same, this is a big deal, people are dying,” she said.
     In 2003 New Mexico was listed as one of the top 10 states for alcohol related deaths. In 2004 they mandated that all offenders would be required to have an IID  installed in their vehicle. Two years later alcohol related crashed decreased by 20 percent and alcohol related deaths decreased by 12 percent.
     The legal blood alcohol level in Maine is .08. Bromley is suggesting that any first time offender whose level is .15 or higher require an IID be installed in their vehicle. She is also suggesting that all second time offenders require an IID in their vehicles.
     There is no way for the device to detect if someone else besides the offender breathes into the device. However, the device has a feature that’s called a “rolling check.”
     The IID will randomly make the driver pull over and breathe into the device. The driver has five minutes to do this. If they do not blow into the device, or have repeated failures, the car will not start and the owner will have to have it towed.
     Bromley said the units would be monitored at some sort of service center, not by local police departments. States that use this program have contracted with electronics stores to monitor the IID. Every 60 days an offender would take the device to a center, have it recalibrated and the information inside downloaded.
      “There would need to be a very clear training and certification program for anyone dealing with the device,” she said. Training would include not only the mechanics of the device, but how to deal with the offenders as well.
      Bromley said violations would most likely be reported to an offender’s probation officer. “These things could get tweaked in subsequent legislative sessions.”
     The cost of having an IID installed would lie with the offender and is less than a six-pack of beer Bromley said. She said it costs $1 to $3 a day in addition to a start up fee and a swap out fee. There is also a fee if the device fails due to high alcohol content in the offender’s breath.
     Bromley said rural states such as Maine benefit most from IID programs. People living in the state’s more rural towns do not have bus or taxi service, and are more likely to drive drunk.
     Bromley said Implementing such a program would mean that an offender would get their license back sooner, something that the criminal justice and public safety committee is struggling with.
     “If someone’s license is revoked for two years, we know they’re driving anyway based on accounts of operating after suspension. We want to get the problem drinkers off the road and have them driving with the interlock in their car,” she said.
     Bromley said she hopes the implementation of this program could go even deeper than just getting dangerous drinkers off the road. “The problem drinker is confronted with the actual issue. It’s undeniable that if they go to start their car and the interlock doesn’t let them, it’s not somebody’s opinion that they shouldn’t drive, it’s a fact.”
     She hopes the device could help someone seek help sooner. “I don’t think there’s a person who doesn’t know someone who hasn’t had a problem with alcohol. As angry as I am that people drink and drive I also have some compassion for them,” Bromely said.
     “If this helps someone confront their problem earlier, that’s a good thing. A lot of times people don’t believe they have a problem. If they use interlock, it might occur to them that hey, I don’t want to be blowing into this thing for the rest of my life.”