Nanny State: New Mexico Law requires Ignition Interlocks

[Midnight Son]

http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/04%20Regular/bills/house/HB0126.html

AN ACT

RELATING TO DRIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR OR DRUGS; REQUIRING NEW AND USED MOTOR VEHICLES SOLD IN NEW MEXICO TO BE EQUIPPED WITH AN IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. NEW AND USED MOTOR VEHICLES--EQUIPPED WITH IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICES.--

A. No later than January 1, 2008, every new motor vehicle sold or offered for sale in New Mexico shall be equipped with an ignition interlock device.

B. No later than January 1, 2009, every used motor vehicle sold or offered for sale in New Mexico shall be equipped with an ignition interlock device.

C. As used in this section:

(1) "ignition interlock device" means a device that regulates the operation of a motor vehicle by measuring an operator's blood alcohol level before allowing the operator to start the vehicle and that periodically tests the operator's blood alcohol level while he operates the vehicle; and

(2) "motor vehicle" means a passenger motor vehicle, including an automobile, pickup truck or van normally used for personal, family or household purposes, that is sold and registered in this state and whose gross vehicle weight is less than ten thousand pounds.

Dass right, they want all cars in New Mexico to be your own personal breathalyzer! I realize that DUI is a problem all over the nation but this is totally ridiculous! If this isn't overturned, you can bet there will be a massive market for underground mechanics to disable these devices.

[Squirrel Killer]

MS, I finally found something that we can agree on. This bill absolutely stinks.

However...(you knew there'd be a however didn't you?)...the bill has only passed the House so far. It still needs to get passed by the NM Senate, and then the NM Governor. From what I've read, there's little chance that it'll pass both of those hurdles.

[Jason McCullough]

Exactly how many drunken drivers does NM have, anyway?

[Anaxagoras]

This bill doesn't seem so bad to me. What's the down side? Such devices are easily tampered with? It would drastically increase car prices?

[Linoleum]

This bill doesn't seem so bad to me. What's the down side? Such devices are easily tampered with? It would drastically increase car prices?

What happens when you need to move your car RIGHT NOW? What happens the first time a mom in a minivan with three kids in the back has a freak stall at a railroad crossing? What happens when someone is in a dangerous area and things they might be being followed and is trying to get to their car?

Anyone who seriously intends to break the law and DUI would work around it. The serious unintended consequences would befall...those the law was designed to protect.

[Rywill]

I don't think you even need to go as far as Linoleum. The obvious downside is that it's some stupid extra thing that you have to do every time you start your car, despite the fact that 90% of us never drive while impaired and 99.9% of car trips are made by people who are not impaired. This is an incredibly widespread intrusion that combats a problem with a very small number of incidences. It's like forcing everyone to wear anti-lightning suits whenever they go outside, or requiring all public buildings to have meteor-resistant roofs.

And that's not even counting the fact that it adds cost to everyone's car, that the interlock device will surely break down sometimes causing a sober person's car to be uselessly disabled, all the stuff Linoleum points out, and the fact that courts can already force people convicted of DUI to install an interlock on their car, which is a much better targeted solution, and that an interlock device can be overcome (you know all those idiots who don't take their friends' keys or call them a cab? Most of them would agree to blow into the interlock device so their friend could start the car, if the friend says "I've had a couple but I'm fine to drive, just help me get my car started.").

[Timemaster Tim]

It's like forcing everyone to wear anti-lightning suits whenever they go outside, or requiring all public buildings to have meteor-resistant roofs.

But think of the children!

[Doug Erickson]

Ugh. What a terrible idea.

[Dave Markell]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives. As Ry pointed out, everyone can conceivably be made safer from anything imaginable, but not without expensive consequences.

Morons. And I'm sure the bill's opponents were demonized as "heartless and uncaring," the standard, winning tactic in all these battles.

[Jason McCullough]

It's like forcing everyone to wear anti-lightning suits whenever they go outside

I would so vote for this.

Yeah, the ignition lock thing is ludicrious; you're wildly inconveniencing everyone for virtually no benefit.

Does anyone know if a NM legislator recently had a family member killed by a drunk driver? Tends to be the background on stuff like this.

[steve]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives.
"You can't put a price on a human life."

[Anaxagoras]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives.
"You can't put a price on a human life."

Especially the children.

[Dave Markell]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives.
"You can't put a price on a human life."

Really? Then why aren't all windows bulletproof? Why don't all cars use puncture-proof tires? Why doesn't every home have firesprinklers? How about mandatory 360 degree airbags in all forms of transportation?

The list is endless. We do indeed place prices on human lives, every single day, in many ways.

[Duality]

But you can't spell it out like that!

Society only really works when people are blissfully unaware of the prices that are put on their loved ones!

[Jason McCullough]

Uh, I thought every home did have fire sprinklers.

[XPav]

Uh, I thought every home did have fire sprinklers.
Let see here... my apartment doesn't have fire sprinklers, my coworker's condo doesn't, and my parent's house doesn't have them.

Smartypants lawyer Eugene Volokh compares mandatory breathalyser interlocks to mandatory 'smart guns' here.

http://volokh.com/2004_02_15_volokh_archive.html#107721399019985959

Apparently the ACLU (and others) are objecting to the NM law.

[Dave Markell]

Are you kidding me??? I get a HUGE insurance discount on my home because we have sprinklers. Only a few percent do. Where do you live, anyway? The Hamptons? You sure don't seem to have seen many average homes.

[DennyA]

I've never even seen a private home with fire sprinklers, save for Skywalker Ranch. Apartments, sure.

This law is just wacky stupid.

Find a way to detect if a driver is an inattentive, agressive idiot and lock their ignition. Then we can talk.

Talk about "guilty until proven innocent."

[Oppressor]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives.
"You can't put a price on a human life."

The Economist (1/24/04) ran an article recently, outlining a Harvard Law School study which estimated the value of a human life. It's about $7M in the US, $10M in Japan, $4M in Great Britain and Canada, and about $600K in Taiwan.

So there ya go... You can now base all your policy viewpoints on hard numbers...

[Dave Markell]

I've never even seen a private home with fire sprinklers, save for Skywalker Ranch.

As I mentioned earlier, I have them, and it came as a nice surprise. We bought a new home in southern California and it came as part of one of the upgrade packages. Again, Jason, note the words "upgrade packages." These things ain't standard. I'd never seen them until just this year. My parents, my brother, my cousins, my uncle, my friends--no one I know has them.

[Oppressor]

The idiots in the New Mexico legislature have clearly never done a cost-benefit analysis in their lives.
"You can't put a price on a human life."

The Economist (1/24/04) ran an article recently, outlining a Harvard Law School study which estimated the value of a human life. It's about $7M in the US, $10M in Japan, $4M in Great Britain and Canada, and about $600K in Taiwan.

So there ya go... You can now base all your policy viewpoints on hard numbers...

[Oppressor]

I've never even seen a private home with fire sprinklers, save for Skywalker Ranch.

As I mentioned earlier, I have them, and it came as a nice surprise. We bought a new home in southern California and it came as part of one of the upgrade packages. Again, Jason, note the words "upgrade packages." These things ain't standard. I'd never seen them until just this year. My parents, my brother, my cousins, my uncle, my friends--no one I know has them.

My Burbank house has them too. Of course, my street has nearly burned, twice, in the past two years, so it's a good idea IMO. On the upside, my house was on TeeVee last year...

[Jason McCullough]

Excuse me, I'm thinking of apartments. Every one I've stayed in had them, so I just assumed it was required. Google talks like it's a per-state thing.