Ignition Interlocks - What You Need to Know: A Toolkit for Policymakers, Highway Safety Professionals, and Advocates

摘要

Alcohol-impaired driving takes an enormous toll in the United States, killing approximately one person every 40 minutes. Despite continued efforts by enforcement, the judiciary, advocates and governmental agencies, nearly 13,000 people were killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2007 (NHTSA 2008a). This number has remained remarkably stable for almost two decades after alcohol-involved fatalities declined significantly in the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s. Many drivers involved in fatal alcohol-impaired-driving crashes have been arrested previously for driving while intoxicated (DWI). In 2007, drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter or higher in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior conviction for driving while impaired than were drivers with no alcohol (NHTSA, 2008a). The preventions of impaired driving is critical to reducing alcohol-impaired-driving deaths and injuries. More than 1.46 million drivers were arrested in the United States in 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. This number represents an arrest rate of one DWI arrest for every 139 licensed drivers in the United States (NHTSA 2008b). Technology presents exciting possibilities in the area of impaired driving prevention. One promising strategy is the breath alcohol ignition ignition interlock device. (BAHD).