Valley Driver 1st in L.A. to Be Sentenced Under New Law

A Van Nuys man has become the first person in Los Angeles to be sentenced under a new state law requiring twice-convicted drunk drivers to equip their vehicles with a device that prevents the engine from being started if the driver has been drinking, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Murray J. Greenfield, 48, pleaded no contest Monday to drunk driving in an incident Sunday in which he nearly collided with a police car at Sherman Way and Rubio Avenue in Van Nuys, said Deputy City Atty. Harvey Crespy.

Police reported that Greenfield--who was previously convicted of drunk driving in June, 1990--had a blood alcohol level of 0.21%, more than double the legal limit.

Under the law that went into effect in California July 1, Municipal Court Commissioner Nori Ann Walla ordered Greenfield to install an “ignition interlock device.”

The unit requires a driver to blow into a breath analysis machine every time the car is started. If the driver has a blood alcohol content over 0.02% or if another person is attempting to deceive the machine, the car will not start.

Additionally, the interlock device will also make random checks on drivers by asking for a breath analysis while they are driving. If the driver fails the breath test or does not take the test, the car’s horn begins to blare and the headlights will flash.

Walla also sentenced Greenfield to two days in County Jail, fined him $1,063 and ordered him to undergo a year and a half of alcohol-abuse education.

“This is one more tool against drinking drivers and it’s the first extremely technical advance in terms of controlling a person’s behavior when he is otherwise out of sight of the court,” said Deputy City Atty. Richard Schmidt, the lead prosecutor in Van Nuys.

The new law, authored by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood), passed unanimously last year. Gov. Pete Wilson signed it into law in September.

The Department of Motor Vehicles automatically suspends the license of anyone caught driving drunk a second time, but authorities say many continue to drive--if only to work and their court-ordered alcohol-education classes.

Richard Doinoff, president of Guardian Systems of California, said his firm manufactures an interlock device that is nearly foolproof.

When the unit is installed in an automobile, the driver is given a unique code and is trained to blow into the machine in a particular pattern, Doinoff said. He said this help assure that only the defendant can drive the car.

The device, which is leased for $25 a month after a $50 installation charge, also maintains records of every trip made in the car, another check on the system.

“It’s going to deter and reduce dramatically the second time offenses,” Doinoff said.

Schmidt said his office still processes “quite a number of people” who have been convicted a second time of driving while drunk. “The potential to see a lot of these devices is there,” he said.