SOMALINET NEWS ...Archives
UNITED STATES: A NEW STRATEGY TO DISCOURAGE DRUNK DRIVING November 20, 2006
Zainab Osman
(SomaliNet) New York. The threat of arrest and punishment, for decades the primary tactic against drunken drivers, is no longer working in the struggle to reduce the death toll, officials say, and they are proposing turning to technology, alcohol detection devices in every vehicle, to address the problem.
In the first phase of the plan, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), backed by a national association of state highway officials and car manufacturers, will announce today a campaign to change drunken driving laws in 49 states to require that even first offenders install a device that tests drivers and shuts down the car if it detects alcohol.
Many states already require the devices, known as ignition interlocks, for people who have been convicted several times. Last year New Mexico became the first to make them mandatory after a first offense.
New Mexico was not the only state to record a decline in alcohol-related motoring deaths, and several states showed even bigger drops. "It is an integral part of our success," said Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who thinks others should follow his state's lead.
Officials say interlocks for first offenders are not a panacea but will reduce repeat offenses.
They say the next step will be a program to develop devices to unobtrusively test every driver for alcohol and disable the vehicle. The automaker Saab and a medical equipment company already have devices that may be adapted for that job.