Missouri DWI/DUI laws will change as of July 1, 2009, to require ignition interlock devices to be installed on the vehicles of all people convicted of a second or subsequent DUI. The story is here. The offender will be required to pay for the device for 6 months. The law is going to be applied retroactively, which means that it will be applied to people who were arrested before the new law was passed but whose cases are still pending. That smacks of an ex post facto violation (changing the law after a crime has been committed – i.e., changing the rules in the middle of the game), but this is another one of those DUI exceptions to the US constitution.
I certainly think that ignition interlock devices are much more humane than flat-out driver’s license suspensions. In the Kansas City area, particularly in the suburbs or rural areas, without a car you cannot work. You also might find it hard to buy groceries, take your kids to school or get to alcohol or drug treatment. There is virtually no public transportation. I don’t see us getting light rail anytime soon, and you can’t get a bus or even a taxi outside of the urban core. So, suspending driver’s licenses for extended periods of time is condemning people to either (1) being jobless, maybe homeless, etc., or (2) committing more crimes by driving while suspended. While “riding dirty”, many decide to also drive without insurance.
There are a lot of problems with ignition interlock devices, including malfunctions that leave people stranded, but at least this law will allow people to get to and from work for the most part. This is as opposed to Kansas DUI law in which a first time offender who refuses a breath test or blows over a .15 will get suspended from all driving for one year, followed by having to have the interlock device for one year. That is for a person’s very first mistake in his or her lifetime. Now, that is harsh.