Ignition locks added to Minn.'s fight against DWIs

[erynthered]

I'm for putting them in all cars. And before you call me a nut, just consider this.....they have other safety devices such as seatbelts, airbags, etc all designed to keep drivers safe....how is the interlock so much different? All the cost from those other technologies were eventually passed down to the consumer and I didn't hear people biitchin about the cost of airbags. Anyway for me, the peace of mind that there aren't a crap load of drunk drivers on the roads with me and family is well worth it.

 

 

I did. Hell I remember people bitchin about having to pay for the rear window defroster back in the mid seventies.

 

ABS brakes too.

[el Tigre]

I'm for putting them in all cars. And before you call me a nut, just consider this.....they have other safety devices such as seatbelts, airbags, etc all designed to keep drivers safe....how is the interlock so much different? All the cost from those other technologies were eventually passed down to the consumer and I didn't hear people biitchin about the cost of airbags. Anyway for me, the peace of mind that there aren't a crap load of drunk drivers on the roads with me and family is well worth it.

I agree. I'd be OK with making them standard equpment on all new cars. The only problem would be with all the older vehicles already out there. Drunks would just start driving old cars. Not sure how you would work that out.

[Stl Bills]

I agree. I'd be OK with making them standard equpment on all new cars. The only problem would be with all the older vehicles already out there. Drunks would just start driving old cars. Not sure how you would work that out.

You gotta start somewhere I guess.

[Stl Bills]

I did. Hell I remember people bitchin about having to pay for the rear window defroster back in the mid seventies.

 

ABS brakes too.

Are you still against airbags and ABS brakes?

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

I agree. I'd be OK with making them standard equpment on all new cars. The only problem would be with all the older vehicles already out there. Drunks would just start driving old cars. Not sure how you would work that out.

 

 

I would think the liability issues would be big. What if you had an emergency and your ignition lock device failed. Would people with asthma or COPD be exempt? I could just see all the running cars in bar parking lots, started before the drinking comenced! Breathalyzers often seem to take many attempts to get successful readings too. I may be in the minority, but I want less electronic crap on my car. I would be extremely upset if a non-essential electronic device malfunctioned and rendered my car useless when I was trying to get to work in the morning.

[HopsGuy]

I'm for putting them in all cars....

 

How about the part where if you "fail", a report is transmitted to the authorities? Mouthwash, among other things, will create a false positive. Are you for that, too?

[erynthered]

Are you still against airbags and ABS brakes?

 

 

Never said I was.

[Fezmid]

Are you still against airbags and ABS brakes?

 

I'm against being forced to use airbags and ABS brakes if I don't want to. And it's perfectly legal (as far as I know) to disable both of them.

 

I don't need the government controlling even more of my life (and this comes from someone who never drinks). I understand the thought behind installing it on cars of people who have been convicted of DUI, and I'm on the fence on that one. But to mandate it for anyone who drives a car? That seems very draconian and "big brother-ish." That's not even addressing the fact that it costs $600-$1200/year to have the device installed! And what happens when the device fails and you can no longer start your car? If my ABS stops working, I can still drive the car...

 

Government is getting too big as it is -- we don't need them controlling the driving of innocent citizens, IMHO.

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

Are you still against airbags and ABS brakes?

 

 

I hate ABS brakes. If you are a poor driver, I am sure they can be very helpfull. I do not want the brake pedal pushing back at me. There should be a switch to turn it off like traction control in some cars.

[el Tigre]

How about the part where if you "fail", a report is transmitted to the authorities? Mouthwash, among other things, will create a false positive. Are you for that, too?

I would be against that part. That should be only for the DUI convictions.

[MarkyMannn]

I'm for putting them in all cars. And before you call me a nut,

 

 

Why stop there? Lets have devices in cars that disable cell phones, I would wager that phone/texting involves as many or more crashes as DWI. Heck, ban CD's and Ipod's too, and coffee drinking in your car

[el Tigre]

I would think the liability issues would be big. What if you had an emergency and your ignition lock device failed. Would people with asthma or COPD be exempt? I could just see all the running cars in bar parking lots, started before the drinking comenced! Breathalyzers often seem to take many attempts to get successful readings too. I may be in the minority, but I want less electronic crap on my car. I would be extremely upset if a non-essential electronic device malfunctioned and rendered my car useless when I was trying to get to work in the morning.

You make some valid points. I'm just thinking out loud on this issue,but drunks take so many innocent lives that the interlock sounds like a reasonable way to combat it. As far as wanting less electronic crap on your car,I'm all with you on that. When I first started driving (in the 70's) cars electrical systems were so simple. I never took my cars to a mechanic,you could do almost all repairs yourself. Nowadays you need to be an electrician,computer tech and NASA scientist rolled into one just to diagnose the problem!

[MarkyMannn]

I'm against being forced to use airbags and ABS brakes if I don't want to. And it's perfectly legal (as far as I know) to disable both of them.

 

I don't think you can disable them, they are tied into the car's computer. And even if you can, it would trip the malfunction light, now you don't pass inspection

[Stl Bills]

How about the part where if you "fail", a report is transmitted to the authorities? Mouthwash, among other things, will create a false positive. Are you for that, too?

Totally against that, if the car don't start and you don't drive it then there is nothing wrong with it. I understand the law technically starts with intent but that's not enforced. Think of all the people that try to drive drunk but their friends grab there keys, are we supposed to arrest them for intent, absolutely not. The reports are for those who have been convicted. They are downloaded into a database every month and sent to either the court or the offenders PO. I'm not for having the data downloaded at all just for not letting the car start if someone is over the legal limit.

[Stl Bills]

Why stop there? Lets have devices in cars that disable cell phones, I would wager that phone/texting involves as many or more crashes as DWI. Heck, ban CD's and Ipod's too, and coffee drinking in your car

Because driving drunk is illegal, with the exception of texting the things you listed are legal. In most states they are making texting while driving illegal. I find it hard to compare CD's and drinking coffee to drunk driving. All it would do is take away people's ability to start a car if they were over the legal limit. That is all I'm a proponent of. I used to share your same opinion until I lost my cousin to something that could have easily been prevented.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I'm all for for having these mandatory in all cars. Here's my system...If you have a clean record, you'd have to register under the .08 legal limit...that'd maintain the driver's basic freedoms (in other words, if you want to risk driving buzzed, go ahead ya jackass) and effectively eliminate the false positive risk.

 

If you have a conviction on your record, it's .02. Simple enough IMO.

 

People will complain about Big Brother, but I'm sure the same thing happened when front-row seatbelts became mandatory, and I don't see our society turning into dystopia because of seatbelts. In fact, this is even more necessary than seatbelts. If you don't fasten your seatbelt, you're gambling with your own life. If you have a few beers and then drive with a .13, your gambling with the life of everybody on the road.

 

Fact is, we've had automobiles for about a century and the drunk driving problem hasn't even come close to going away. Since we have the technology to save lives, let's save lives.

[sullim4]

The problem is that someone else with "clean" breath can just blow into it, rendering it useless. Granted, they force the convicts to blow into it every few minutes, but do you really want to force that requirement on law abiding citizens?

[Stl Bills]

The problem is that someone else with "clean" breath can just blow into it, rendering it useless. Granted, they force the convicts to blow into it every few minutes, but do you really want to force that requirement on law abiding citizens?

The system works so you blow to start, then 5 minutes later, then every half an hour. You wouldn't get very far if somebody started it for you but I guess you could have somebody start it, wait five minutes and blow in it again...then the drunk would have half an hour of driving time. I'm sure the penalties for drunk driving would be increased because you would really have to try pretty hard to beat the system. Its not a perfect system, never said it was but it would save lives.

[Fezmid]

Granted, they force the convicts to blow into it every few minutes

I was trying to figure out how that worked. Isn't it more dangerous to force the driver to pay attention to blowing in a device rather than driving...?

 

I don't think you can disable them, they are tied into the car's computer. And even if you can, it would trip the malfunction light, now you don't pass inspection

Minnesota and Wisconsin don't have car inspections. Pay your yearly registration fee and you're done. I'm not sure how many states still do the inspection thing.

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

A little of topic, but whoever decided to put the annoying buzzer in cars when you don't buckle your seat belt should suffer a slow painfull death! I can't even drive 15 MPH around my block to a friends house without either fastening my seatbelt or being blasted with a loud, obnoxious tone.