Bill Would Require Ignition Interlocks For First Offense DUI's In South Carolina

Bill Would Require Ignition Interlocks For First Offense DUI's In... (Added: February 02, 2012)

A bill introduced in the South Carolina State Senate would require drivers facing a first offense DUI to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicles. WJBF News Channel 6's South Caro (more)

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By: Robert Kittle | WSPA-TV
Published: February 01, 2012

Columbia, SC --

South Carolina already requires drivers guilty of a second drunken driving offense to put ignition interlock devices on their cars. A driver has to blow into the machine to start the car, but if the ignition interlock detects an illegal alcohol level, the car won't start.

State Senator Joel Lourie, D-Columbia, wrote that law. Now, he's sponsoring a bill that would require ignition interlocks after a first offense DUI.

"By the time they've committed their second offense, they've hurt somebody," he says. "So what we want to do is if you get a DUI conviction in South Carolina, we're going to make you put an ignition interlock on your car and we're going to monitor it and make sure you do what you're supposed to do."

A state Senate subcommittee heard testimony in support of the bill Wednesday, but senators did not take a vote. They're planning further debate next week and possible amendments. One possible change would be to also require ignition interlocks for anyone who refuses to take a breathalyzer test after being stopped on suspicion of DUI. Sen. Lourie expects the bill to be on the full Senate floor by the end of the month.

Jeff Moore, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association, says he thinks the bill would save lives. "There are only two ways to stop the repeat offender from repeating, and that is either to put them in jail for a lengthy period of time and simply take their ability to drive away from them, or you put a device like this on their vehicle after the first charge is made," he says.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 15 states require ignition interlocks after the first offense. (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington.) MADD says repeat DUIs are down an average of 67 percent in those states.

And while Lourie says the bill would save lives, it also wouldn't cost taxpayers any money. The offenders would have to pay to have the ignition interlocks installed on their vehicles.