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Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Ind. Law - Ignition interlock bills move to second house
A long ILB entry from Nov. 21, 2009 was headed "More on: "Tippecanoe County superior court judge Michael Morrissey is one of the few Indiana judges who uses ignition interlocks". Access it here.
A story by Kevin Allen of the South Bend Tribune reports:
Habitual traffic violators, including those with histories of drunken driving, would have to submit to stricter monitoring if two bills moving through the General Assembly become law.Senate Bill 221 would require people with restricted driver’s licenses to submit to sobriety tests when stopped for other traffic violations, wear a device that detects and records their use of alcohol, and install an ignition interlock device on their vehicles.
An ignition interlock requires an alcohol-free breath sample from the driver before the vehicle will start.
"There’s been some confusion as to how far judges and courts can go when they have an individual in this situation. This eliminates any confusion," said Sen. John Broden, D-South Bend, who wrote the bill with Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne.
Senate Bill 247 is another bill that calls on courts to make greater use of ignition interlocks to curb drunken driving.
Under that bill, a person convicted of operating while intoxicated could be prohibited from driving for at least 90 days unless his or her vehicle is equipped with an ignition interlock.
Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, is one of the authors of SB 247. He said the bill is intended to encourage judges to employ a technique that already is available to them.
"We’ve been strengthening and toughening our drunk driving laws for years, but there is always more that needs to be done," Zakas said. "This is part of that effort."
Both SB 221 and SB 247 easily passed the Senate last week and are now being considered in the House Judiciary Committee.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 9, 2010 09:48 AM
Posted to Indiana Law