California Introduces Lifesaving Bill

Last month, Senator Jerry Hill introduced a bill that would forever change the face of drunk driving laws. SB 1046 would make additional efforts to end drunk driving completely, and make California the 26th state to enforce an all-offender ignition interlock law.

Currently, California has a pilot program in place that requires drunk driving offenders in four counties (Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento, and Tulare) to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles. As the pilot program is written today, it is set to expire in July of 2017. SB 1046 would change turn the pilot program into a statewide law.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving released statistical information that showed ignition interlock devices had stopped 1.77 million drunk driving attempts, and 125,000 of those were stopped in the State of California. If ignition interlock devices were an all-offender requirement they would stop even more drunk driving attempts.

The legal ramifications of drunk driving are high, but this new law would make them even higher statewide. As it stands today, only offenders in the four counties have to install ignition interlock devices, and that has proven to be successful and could be even more successful if you make your voice heard. You can contact your local lawmaker to make a difference.

You can help the fight against drunk driving by writing a letter to your local lawmakers and encouraging them to support SB 1046. Mothers Against Drunk Driving have made it especially convenient for you to contact your lawmakers by creating an email for you to send. You can find the email here.