CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Test Promising for Drunk Driver Lock

Researchers reported promising test results for a computerized device that requires convicted drunk drivers to prove to their cars that they are sober before they can drive. Judges in four California counties have been ordering the “ignition interlock” device installed in cars of some offenders for the last three years. A two-year study of the experimental program found that ignition interlocks appeared to reduce the number of repeat drunk drivers by almost one-third. However, EMT Group Inc., which performed the study for the state, found that the 28% reduction rate was too low to conclude statistically that the devices accounted for the difference. EMT researchers compared the rearrest rates of 584 offenders in the program with 506 who were not. Moreover, they said any determined drinking driver could find ways to fool the detection system.