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There are already about 150,000 interlock systems now in cars in the U.S., placed there for drivers with multiple DUI convictions. But the proposed mandate would expand the use of interlock systems exponentially; MADD's statistics indicate that nearly 1.5 million Americans are arrested annually on DUI charges, making it the No. 1 crime for which Americans are arrested...
...conform, since states that don't adopt the mandate could lose their highway funds. "The national 21 minimum drinking age and the .08% law [for allowable alcohol in the bloodstream] both resulted from federal highway sanctions. History tells us that this approach works," says Laura Dean-Mooney of MADD. So far only 11 states require interlocks for anyone with one conviction who is currently driving on a DUI-restricted license...
Opponents of the MADD push for stricter laws warn that a federal interlock requirement would serve as a Trojan horse, opening the way for even more sophisticated interlock technology that would be required on every car sold in the U.S., according to Sarah Longwell, managing director of the American Beverage Institute, which lobbies on behalf of taverns and restaurants. "If you go to the ball game and happen to have a beer you wouldn't be able drive home," she says. (Watch TIME's video: "Beer Pong Strikes Back...
...MADD president Chuck Hurley doesn't deny he would like to see such systems put into service, but says wider use of such technology is 10 years off, and MADD isn't calling for automakers to install it now. Current Breathalyzer technology, he said, would make a big difference almost immediately. In New Mexico, for example, DUI fatalities have been reduced 35% since the state began requiring all convicted DUI offenders to use an ignition interlock device. "Studies have shown alcohol ignition interlocks to be effective in reducing recidivism," concurs Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety...
...continuing to look for ways to curb drunk driving, MADD is emphasizing its negative economic impact. MADD estimates that drunk driving now accounts for 18% of the nation's auto-insurance bill and 20% of all emergency-room costs that are never reimbursed, as well as 16% of all probation costs and 6% of all jail cells used...