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 Breath-testing devices thatprevent a vehicle from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol levelexceeds a preset limit can dramatically reduce more DWI offenses amongfirst-time offenders, a new study shows.First offenders with “interlock” devices installed on their cars were60 percent less likely to have a repeat offense than those who did not usethe devices, according to findings published in the current issue ofTraffic Injury Prevention.”This study on first-time offenders reinforces prior studies on thisissue that show a 65 percent reduction in drunk driving while interlocksare installed,” Paul Marques, of the Pacific Institute for Research andEvaluation, said in a prepared statement.The findings may help resolve questions about whether interlocks workas well with first-time offenders as with repeat offenders. Two earlierstudies had questioned their effect, but the researchers noted that inthose studies, only a small proportion of those required to install theinterlocks actually did.In the new study, researchers examined the records of 1,461 first-timeDWI offenders in New Mexico who had interlocks installed in their vehiclesand compared them with 17,562 first-time offenders in the state whodidn’t use the devices. The two groups were matched by age, gender andblood alcohol concentration at the time of arrest.”The average first offender has driven drunk many times before he orshe was arrested. The big risk difference is between non-offenders andfirst offenders. The risk difference between first offenders and repeatoffenders is small by comparison,” Marques said.This research — funded in part by the Substance Abuse Policy ResearchProgram of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropicorganization that focuses on health and health-care issues — also citedpossible economic benefits to vehicle interlocks.One device cost the offender $2.25 per day, leading the authors toestimate that for every dollar spent on interlocks for first offenders,the public saves $3 in damage and destruction caused by DWI crashes.”Interlocks present an opportunity to help change behavior rather thansimply punishing or incarcerating the offender,” Marques said. “It’s notenough to revoke a license — 75 percent of all people with revokedlicenses drive anyway — but you don’t want to sentence an entire familyto poverty if they’re dependent on that driver getting to and from his orher job. By installing an interlock, the risk that the DWI offender posesis controlled, and interlocks become a public benefit.” Only about 10 percent of arrested DWIs nationally are ordered a periodof interlock-controlled driving, Marques said. Four states mandateinterlocks for first DWI offenses: New Mexico, Louisiana, Arizona andIllinois (effective in 2009).The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism offers has moreabout preventing alcohol abuse.

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