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In push to save lives, advocates want expanded DWI ignition interlock

Sandy and Hilary Melville’s son, Austin, was killed by a repeat drunken driver as he crossed a Rochester street in 2010.They want the state to do more to help prevent other parents from experiencing the same anguish.

The House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee on Wednesday approved HF1112, a proposal to require all those convicted of DWI for the first time to install an ignition interlock device before they can get back behind the wheel. It’s a change, Sandy Melville said, that would save lives and help change a culture of drinking and driving.

“Applying ignition interlocks for all offenders will not only deter many from excessive drinking and driving, but it will also change the social attitude that this is OK to do,” she told the committee.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester), will go next to the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee. A companion, SF1362, sponsored by Sen. Chris Eaton (DFL-Brooklyn Center), awaits action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Started in 2011, the Minnesota Ignition Interlock Device Program offers first-time offenders convicted of DWI with a blood alcohol level of 0.16 or above, and all second-time offenders, the opportunity to regain their driving privileges. Participants install a breathalyzer device on their dashboard and are required to blow into a tube; if the device detects the presence of alcohol the vehicle will not start.

Expanding the program to include all first-time DWI offenders is a “surefire way” to keep drivers with DWI-revoked licenses from getting back behind the wheel and to prevent subsequent violations, Norton said.

Under the state’s current law, she said, “we are not putting folks on ignition interlock until well after they are considered heavily drunk.”

The bill would also make other changes to the state’s DWI laws, including amending revocation periods for DWI convictions and reducing fees and surcharges for driver’s license reinstatement following a DWI while requiring all first-time offenders to pay for ignition interlock devices. 


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