Ignition interlock devices (AKA sobriety machines) are commonly assigned by courts to monitor people convicted of drunken driving offences, but a new investigation shows these court-ordered devices often aren't being implemented in Wisconsin as frequently as they are supposed to.
An ignition interlock device is a personal breathalyzer integrated into a vehicle. It requires the driver to provide a breath sample before the vehicle can start. If the device registers an alcohol sample over an acceptable level, the car will not run.
But, a recent WISC-TV investigation found that data provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows that from 2012, Wisconsin judges had ordered more than 54,000 devices to be installed in convicted offenders vehicles, but only about 56 percent had actually been installed.
According to WISC-TV investigative reporter Adam Schrager, who uncovered the discrepancy, said that a lack of oversight is partly to blame for the problem.
"No one is checking," he said. "A court issues this order and then it just sits there on a driver's abstract."
He said in many cases, offenders have also had their licenses revoked in addition to not having a court-ordered ignition interlok device installed in their car.
"We don't hear about these people unless, and until there's another incident where they're either arrested or they've gotten into an accident," he said. "So, these people are potentially on the roads every single day in the state of Wisconsin."
According to Schrager, there are a number of companies in Wisconsin that can install an ignition interlock device in cars, but the process can take several hours to hook up the device and requires an offender to come back every 60 days to provide the data from the device. He said that while judges and law enforcement want these devices installed in vehicles, state officials are strapped for the resources to make monitoring the use of the devices feasible.
According to the investigation, Wisconsin isn't the only state having issues enforcing the use of the devices.
"Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which is arguably one of the biggest proponents of IIDS across the country, says that states that do particularly well with this are still only looking at 60 to 65 percent of participation," said Schrager.
Currently, the punishment for not having an ignition interlock device in a vehicle when it has been court-ordered is a traffic citation. A bill introduced by state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, aimed to bulk up the punishments levied against offenders who don't install a device. That measure passed out of a state Senate committee and is being considered by the whole chamber.
However, with the state Assembly adjourned for the year, Schrager said he believes the measure will not pass.
