If you've ever enjoyed the freedom of being behind the wheel, Randy Dunson has a story. "I felt like the law was watching me," Dunson says. For the past two years, he's understood living without that freedom. In 2008, he was convicted for the second time of driving drunk. "It was .08 when I blew," he says. "I figured I could pass, but I didn't. Two beers is too many."
Dunson was one of the first to fall under a new South Carolina law, passed by Governor Mark Sanford. It requires a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device, or BAIIT, on the car of any driver who's been convicted of two more more DUI's. For two years, Dunson has had the machine attached to his car. He must blow into the device before he can even start the ignition. By law, if he blows .02 or higher, the car will not start.
"There's really no way to get around it," says Dustin Sutton with National Interlock. His company is one of two in SC that sells the devices. Each driver with an interlock device is required to report to local contractors every 60 days. The information in their device, including whether they've passed or failed a test, is downloaded, and then forwarded to the state Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole.
Sutton's company says the program works, and is now supporting a new idea to expand the effort. Senate Bill 0746, just introduced last week, would mandate the machines for first time DUI offenders under the age of 21. "You can suspend someone's driver's license all you want, but you can't physically prevent them from getting drunk and getting in a vehicle and driving that vehicle down the road," says Sutton. "That's what this device does."
Currently, 355 offenders across the state are being monitored by the interlock program. Anyone with two or more convictions is required to drive with the device for two years. While the state says it's too soon to tell how successful it's been, directors say less than 3% of participants have been dropped from the program.
As for Randy Dunson, he is the first in the state to successfully pass the program. Monday, the lock was removed from his car, and he was cleared for the road. "I've learned my lesson."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement