The New Jersey state assembly has advanced a proposed bill that would change New Jersey’s stringent laws about penalties for drunk driving. Bill 2427 proposes adding an interlock ignition device on the primary car for every person convicted of any drunk driving offense.
Currently, New Jersey law only mandates ignition locking devices for repeat offenders with DUI convictions on their records. While, on the surface, this amendment seems like a good way to make NJ’s DUI laws stricter, it also would lessen some other penalties associated with DUI convictions.
Under current law, every convicted DUI driver loses their driver’s license for a minimum of three months. Those who have multiple DUI arrests on their record can lose their licenses for much longer, even up to two years. Bill 2427 proposes to reduce that suspension to only ten days.
The proponents of the bill argue that the ten-day suspension of driving privileges will be enough because of the addition of the ignition interlock device that is installed on every offender’s vehicle. They argue that reducing the license suspension down to ten days will allow those offenders to begin the process of recovery by being able to drive to work again.
However, the critics of the bill state that this amendment would greatly reduce the efficiency of New Jersey’s DUI prevention initiatives. They argue that the ignition locking devices will only be installed on the offender’s main vehicle, which means that they can drive without a breath test in any other car on their un-suspended license.
These critics also point out that the devices installed are preset to a standard 0.04 blood alcohol level. That means that drivers can consume a number of beverages before reaching that level, still enabling them to drink and drive to a certain extent. The biggest argument against Bill 2427 is coming from the fact that DUI covers drug offenses, too. An ignition interlock device can only test for alcohol, so anyone with a drug-related DUI offense will be able to drive while high after ten days without any preventative or punitive measure protecting the community.
New Jersey is known as one of the most stringent states in the country with respect to DUI laws and penalties. Because New Jersey considers DUI offenses as motor vehicle offenses, and not crimes which result in a criminal record, New Jersey has used categorization that to enforce strict driver’s license suspension penalties. If Bill 2427 passes, those penalties will be reduced. It remains to be seen if this will ultimately help or hurt New Jersey’s citizenry.
