Relates to the responsibilities of an ignition interlock monitor

• Democratic3

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Jeremy Cooney says this is needed

New York has made significant progress to remove impaired drivers from the roads by addressing both enforcement and rehabilitation efforts. Ignition interlock devices (IIDs) represent an important tool to be used in both efforts. IIDs protect the public from drunk driving events and also alter driver behavior to reduce recidivism. This bill seeks to enhance New York's existing IID law by promoting expanded usage to reflect what the data overwhelmingly demonstrates: all persons convicted of alcohol-related traffic offenses should be required to utilize an IID for a specified minimum period of time. Despite significant empirical data supporting the effectiveness of IID usage, IIDs remain vastly underutilized in New York. Indeed, although current law mandates misdemeanor/felony-level DWI offenders to install and maintain a functioning IID for a set post-revocation period, only 26% of such offenders actually install the device. This abysmal partic- ipation rate undermines clear legislative intent and forfeits an effec- tive method for achieving NY's dual goals of advancing public safety and reducing recidivism. PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND SAVING LIVES: *Nationally, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reports that between December 1, 2006 and December 31, 2020, 3.8 million attempts to drive while legally intoxicated (.08+) were stopped by the IID. In additional, 25.4 million attempts were foiled for persons who had been drinking. *Over the same time-period in New York, MADD reports IIDs prevented more than 111,000 drunk driving attempts, and an additional 439,427 attempts by convicted drunk drivers who attempted to start a vehicle after consuming alcohol. *A 2016 University of Pennsylvania study found that alcohol-related fatalities decreased by 15% in states with all-offender interlock laws. A similar study in 2018 by the Insurance Institute for Auto and Highway Safety came to a similar conclusion: a decrease in alcohol-related traf- fic deaths of 16%. REDUCING RECIDIVISM: *A 2016 California study concluded that IIDs are 74% more effective in reducing DWI recidivism than license suspension alone during the first six months after conviction and 45% more effective over the course of a year. *The same study notably found that IIDS are 70% more effective than license suspension alone in preventing repeat offenses among second-time offenders for the first year after conviction and 58% more effective over two years. Third-time offenders who only suffered license action were 3.4 times as likely to commit a fourth offense when compared with those offenders subject to IID. *A NHTSA study found that the record of breath tests logged via the IID is effective at predicting future recidivism risk. *A 2016 study published in the International Review of Law and Economics concluded that the potential for IID programs to prevent alcohol involved driving and alcohol-related crashes is most significant when the program is applied to a broader cross-section of offenders and a higher proportion of offenders have the IID installed. This bill will increase interlock usage across all offenders, dras- tically reduce grounds for avoiding the sanction, make first offenders subject to IID usage when they enter into a plea reduction, and provide incentives for violation- free use of the device, including reduced mandatory time periods for usage and a refund of the "driver responsi- bility fee."

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.