Yesterday, the Maryland Gazette reported:
Sen. Jamie B. Raskin and Del. Benjamin F. Kramer both said they will introduce legislation to require the Motor Vehicle Administration to install ignition interlock devices in the cars of convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders.
The proposed legislation comes in the wake of an October incident in which the vehicle of a previously convicted drunken driver struck and killed a Johns Hopkins University student in Baltimore.
That drunk driver, Thomas Meighan, has a whopping 8 previous drunk driving convictions. He deserves the harshest penalties Maryland has to offer – in cases like Meighan’s, an ignition interlock is an ideal punishment. But, he doesn’t just deserve an interlock, he was ordered by the MVA to use one.
But he didn’t, and now a young woman has been killed.
As we’ve been explaining to lawmakers, implementing and maintaining an interlock program is time consuming and expensive. That’s why we can’t stress enough how important it is for states to target the hardcore offenders – high-BAC and repeat-offenders – like Meighan. Mandating interlocks for one-sip-over-the-limit, first-time offenders is neither an effective policy nor a good use of limited state resources. Especially because government statistics show it’s the hardcore offenders who cause the vast majority of fatal crashes.
Maryland couldn’t even ensure that an eight-time drunk driver installed an interlock. How does anyone expect the state to enforce an interlock mandate for the 24,000 or so other cases that will flood the system should MADD’s bill pass?
UPDATE: We just learned that Meighan actually has 9 previous convictions. Thanks to Baltimore Sun reporter Tricia Bishop for the updated information.
