Ignition Interlock Threat Growing

The Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association are the latest to support the mandatory use of ignition interlocks for drunk driving offenders. In a recent announcement in Washington, DC the groups representing the nation’s leading brewers and beer wholesalers publicly endorsed the use of ignition interlocks for repeat DWI offenders and for drivers convicted of drunk driving with a blood alcohol content of .15% or higher (even for a first offense). They also expressed support for giving judges the discretion to require interlocks for offenders with a BAC in excess of .08%.

The Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers join the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in support of using ignition interlocks under these conditions. While the use of interlocks under these circumstances seems reasonable to some, others are concerned that support for the use of interlocks for repeat offenders and high BAC offenders leads down the path to the universal use of interlocks for all drivers and all vehicles. These fears are supported by MADD’s advocacy of the mandatory use of interlocks for all impaired alcohol offenders and by the pursuit of the installation of interlocks in all new vehicles by more and more vehicle manufacturers. Toyota recently announced it was joining Nissan, Saab and Ford in developing an ignition interlock system.

The American Beverage Licensees, our national association, is joining with the American Beverage Institute in taking on this threat to your business. ABL is working to educate its members nationwide about interlocks and is investigating alternative drunk driving countermeasures that will be more effective at preventing injuries and fatalities while focusing on drunk driving offenders rather than burdening the vast majority of drivers who drink responsibly.