I’m against it.

Interlocks won’t do any good. You can build a bypass device using a water bottle, drinking straws, and a bicycle pump. I imagine more sophisticated bypass devices will hit the market about 0.7 seconds after these interlocks are required. The only way to curb drunk driving is to make people realize the risks and the price. Some people will not take it to heart, but some people don’t take the dangers of swimming pools and bathtubs to heart, either. There is nothing that can be done about them but keep the message going and pray that they see the light before it’s too late.

That GPS detection system is already in place in a lot of countries. It will be coming here soon. In fact some rental car companies use just that kind of thing to watch their customers.

But I’m nervous about the whole idea. Where does it stop? Will we require GPS-based systems that measure your location and speed, compare speed with the appropriate speed limit, and report any violations? How about a device that detects people who make turns without using turn signals? Where does it stop?

Use it for convicted drunks. Period. Otherwise MADD can start a fundraising drive and pay for it themselves!

Just what we need: more nanny-state big-government intervention. More lobbyists shoveling money at lawmakers. More fat, bloated bureaucracies overseeing every aspect of the program. More government control over both auto companies and individual lives. More laws requiring more paperwork and less time for cops to fight actual crimes. More overcrowded courtrooms and blood-sucking lawyers playing legalistic games with peoples’ lives. The only thing we’ll get less of is personal responsibility.

Wait ’til the public finds out (after the fact) that these devices are not specific for alcohol, produce tons of false postive results, and beep every 5 to 15 minutes to force you to continue to blow in the machine again and again while driving.

People need to at least know what they’re getting themselves into. And never mind that I’m against the whole police state aspect to this.

It is not agaist the law for a drunk driver to own and operate a car. It is against the law for them to drive on public roads. That is why we are licensed.

As for Baklava’s comment–true, but. Every auto improvement, be it for safety or performance, had to start somewhere with some model year. In ten years, alcohol interlock-equipped vehicles would have as good a shot at parity with their predecessors as airbags and ABS’ had before their introduction.

ST, you bring up personal safety via speed from key-in-ignition to pulling away. Arent’ a few seconds to blow in a tube worth keeping a drunk off the road and possibly killing someone/ruining a life/added burden to police and courts?