Alcohol ignition interlocks in Washington will soon have a feature designed to prevent others from performing breath tests for the driver. Starting Jan. 1, a camera will snap a picture every time the machine is used, verifying that the driver is the person who took the test.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Interlocks are required on the vehicles of those who\u2019ve been accused or convicted of impaired driving. The machine requires a legal breath sample from the driver before allowing a car to start.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had cases where impaired drivers asked passengers, friends or even children to take the test for them,\u201d said Lt. Rob Sharpe, commander of the Washington State Patrol\u2019s Impaired Driving Section, in a media release. \u201cWe\u2019ve even heard stories of people trying to use portable air compressors to take the test.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Failures or attempts to tamper with the device get recorded by the machine\u2019s software. The company which leases the interlocks downloads the information and in turn contacts the State Patrol.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do make personal visits to drivers if we have evidence they have tried to fool the machine,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cHaving a picture will be the best possible evidence that someone was trying to cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Washington has what\u2019s called an Ignition Interlock License, allowing those whose drivers\u2019 licenses would normally be suspended to drive legally with an interlock. It was an acknowledgment that those accused or convicted of impaired driving have jobs and family obligations that require a car.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory taught us that these people were going to drive anyway,\u201d said Capt. Rob Huss, commander of WSP\u2019s Office of Government and Media Relations. \u201cThe Ignition Interlock License gives them a way to drive legally, but gives the rest of us some assurance that they\u2019re sober and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Drivers can lose their Ignition Interlock License by attempting to fool the machine, and the photographs will provide new accountability for those trusted with the license.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alcohol ignition interlocks in Washington will soon have a feature designed to prevent others from performing breath tests for the driver. Starting Jan. 1, a camera will snap a picture every time the machine is used, verifying that the driver is the person who took the test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-23390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23390"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}