There is no question about it. Drunk driving is dangerous. People are injured and even killed in drunk driving accidents every day. The prevention of impaired driving is an ongoing struggle in Pennsylvania and this country overall. Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying a new approach to stop the traffic safety danger.
Safety advocates in the state see stricter ignition interlock device laws as a means to the end of the high rate of drunk driving accidents. Instead of suspending DUI offenders’ driving licenses according to current law, a wider use of ignition interlock devices might work best to create safer roads.
If a proposed Pennsylvania drunk driving bill moves forward, it would require more reliance on ignition interlock devices. Whereas now someone who is convicted of DUI might have his driver’s license suspended, the bill would work toward actually allowing driving among DUI offenders, as long as those drivers have ignition interlocks on their vehicles.
In an ideal world, the courts could tell offenders not to drive and they would listen. In the real world, however, DUI offenders often fail to respect the sentencing of driver’s license suspension or revocation and drive anyway, sometimes while intoxicated.
By requiring ignition interlock devices, there would be less of a chance that DUI offenders would hit the roads with alcohol in their systems. They could drive, which would please them and allow them to get to work, but the devices would ensure that they are safe to drive. According to supporters of the law change, the devices would reduce the rate of alcohol-related accidents in the state.
Source: Newsworks.org, “Can a new Pa. law reduce repeat drunken-driving offenses?” Emma Jacobs, Feb. 10, 2014