Protecting Family Members from Making the Mistake of Driving While Drinking Is an Important Goal
The nights were long and the weekends were exhausting.
Until you had an ignition interlock installation provider install their product on your son’s car, you were never getting any rest. Although your son is now 30 years old and had lived out on his own and with a wife for nearly five years, a continuing struggle with alcoholism has turned his, and your, life upside down. Your son is now without a wife or a job and has been living at home with you and your husband for the last 13 months. With money of his own, your son says that he can afford an apartment, but both you and your husband thought him being at home with you would be a step in the right direction.
After many late nights and worrisome weekends, however, you are rethinking the decision to have him move in with you. As a transitional step, you insisted that your son have an ignition interlock device installed. And while he initially cited ignition interlock malfunctions that he had read about, you know that this device will allow you to maybe get some sleep when you know that he is out.
No parent should think that a few ignition interlock malfunction reports mean that these are not worthwhile. The fact that in many states, you can still be arrested for and convicted of DUI with a blood alcohol content below 0.08, means that one mistake can have lifelong impact. From jail terms, to fines, to loss of a license, the decision to drink and drive can ruin a career, a marriage, and a life. If installing an ignition interlock device can help prevent a poor decision, it is an important step. Consider some of these facts and figures about the current and possible future use of these devices:
- 28 people die as a result of drunk driving every day in America.
- Most ignition interlock devices will prompt the driver to perform a rolling retest five to 15 minutes after the vehicle is started, as well as randomly throughout the trip.
- $59 billion is the annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals in America.
- If interlocks become mandatory equipment in all vehicles, they will be set far below the legal limit of 0.08, often most likely at 0.03 to 0.04.
If you are tired of long nights and exhausting weekends, installing an interlock ignition device might help you find the comfort and rest that you desire.
