Bill Would Expand Ignition Interlock Requirements for DWI

A bill by Rep. Mark Sharp (D-Jackson County) would expand ignition interlock requirements. Under current law, people convicted of a second DWI are required to have an ignition interlock device on their car. Under Rep Sharp’s bill, people who get a first DWI would be prohibited from operating a motor vehicle unless it is equipped with an ignition interlock device, and they must use it for at least six months.

The bill has been read twice by the House and referred to the Crime Prevention Committee, where a public hearing was completed. 

Northwest Mo Info reports that the bill is being pushed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which says that interlocks stopped 128,196 attempts to drive drunk in Missouri, and that states which enacted such laws saw a decrease in DWI deaths by 15%.

Missouri Plans DWI Crackdown on St. Patrick's Weekend

If you choose to drive impaired this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, your luck will run out. More than 200 Missouri law enforcement agencies will take part in a special impaired driving crackdown that puts additional officers on the road March 17-20.

The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety wants motorists to know that “Driving Impaired Changes Everything.” Special campaign messaging will remind drivers that their lives could change forever with just one impaired-driving conviction or even worse – crash.



“Statewide, law enforcement made 197 DWI arrests during a similar campaign in March of 2015,” says Colonel Bret Johnson, Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “Officers are committed to removing impaired drivers from our roads.”

Driving impaired or riding with someone who is impaired is not worth the risk.

The consequences are serious and real. Not only do you risk killing yourself, or someone else, but the trauma and financial cost of a crash or an arrest for driving while impaired can be significant.

Drinking and driving is a lethal combination. A person who causes a fatal crash while intoxicated, can be charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony resulting in up to seven years of prison time, a $5000 fine, or both. 

To learn more, visit the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety website at savemolives.com, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter at Save MO Lives.

Penalties for DWI Could Be Costly

While many people think it is no big deal, the consequences for DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) could be costly financially. When you are arrested for DWI, the authorities know that you are guilty – they simply give you a breathalyzer test and if you are over the limit while driving, then you are charged. Since the Department of Revenue knows that you are guilty, they take your license away and make it very difficult to get back.

The penalties extend far beyond merely legal consequences, however. All persons are required to carry auto insurance; if an insured motorist is charged with a DWI, then the insurance company frequently wants nothing more to do with you. While responses depend on the company, some will provide a proof of insurance to the Department of Revenue as required to get one’s license back. However, it will be like the Kiss of Death – they will frequently charge you thousands of dollars annually, not hundreds, to insure you. And the consequences could extend to the loss of one’s job. For instance, at Missouri Western, an athletic director lost his job due to a DWI that he was charged with a few years ago. Frequently, employers do not want the risk of having someone drunk on the job. Others do not want someone representing them who has been charged with a DWI.

The consequences will even affect family members. If you have a DWI and a family member is living in the same house with you, some insurance companies will do a spot check and charge substantially more for the family member even if they do not have a DWI on their record.

It will not do people any good to plea down to a lesser charge. The Missouri Department of Revenue will still administratively suspend or revoke one’s driver’s license even if the offense was pleaded down to a lesser offense. The only way to overturn such a penalty is through either an administrative hearing or a trial de novo.

In Missouri, a first conviction for DWI or Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) will result in a 90 day suspension. Missouri law is stricter for commercial vehicles; you can be convicted for driving a commercial vehicle with as little as .04% BAC. After 30 days, the driver may receive a 60-day restricted driving privilege and then is eligible for full reinstatement if all requirements are met. A person convicted of driving a commercial vehicle while intoxicated will be disqualified from driving a commercial vehicle for one year.

Penalties for multiple DWI’s are more severe. A person convicted of a second offense, regardless of the length of time between convictions, will normally receive a one year revocation for accumulation of points. A driver convicted a second time within five years may also receive a five year license denial. At the end of the five year period, the driver must petition the circuit court for reinstatement and register with the Missouri Automated Criminal History site for a criminal history check. A third offense will result in a 10 year denial and the driver must then petition the court for reinstatement. These denials and suspensions are in addition to any criminal penalties such as fines, imprisonment, and probation that courts may impose.

When asked by a law enforcement officer to take an alcohol or drug test, you are required to take the test. If the driver refuses to take the test, then the license is revoked for one year.

Before getting reinstated from a suspension, you must complete the Substance Abuse Traffic Offender Program (SATOP). They determine whether you are a low, medium, or high risk to repeat. It covers the consequences and human tragedy that is the result of DWI’s. A reinstatement fee of $45 is assessed and an SR-22, a proof of financial responsibility, must be filed. You must file and maintain proof of financial responsibility for two years or your license will be suspended again for the remainder of the two year period. For multiple offenders, drivers must install an Interlock Ignition Device to their vehicles for six months. If revoked for at least one year, drivers must take and pass the complete driver examination in order to get reinstated.

Tougher Laws against DWI Offenders Signed.

As many Missouri families prepare to travel this holiday weekend, Gov. Matt Blunt signed tough legislation to better protect them from drunk drivers requiring repeat offenders to modify their vehicles with ignition interlock devices to ensure they cannot endanger other Missourians by drinking and driving.
"Drunk drivers take thousands of innocent lives every year. My heart goes out to the parents, the children, the brothers, the sisters, and the friends who have had their lives changed forever by the criminal irresponsibility of drunk drivers," Gov. Blunt said. "No one should have to suffer through the pain caused by drunk driving accidents. When someone abuses their driving privilege they should have to prove their trustworthiness to get their driver’s license back. And not just by promising not to do it again, but through ignition interlocks which verify sobriety."
"I appreciate Gov. Blunt signing this comprehensive transportation reform package," Sen. Stouffer said. "These reforms come from several years of collaborative work which will result in moving transportation forward in Missouri."
Senate Bill 930, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stouffer, amends Missouri law regarding the issuance of ignition interlocks as penalties for repeat drunk driving offenders. Under current law courts are required to mandate ignition interlock devices, a vehicle modification system that disables a vehicle’s ignition if the driver is drunk or drinking, on the second or subsequent offense.
The legislation shifts responsibility for interlock devices from the courts to the Department of Revenue. To re-gain their driving privileges from the Department of Revenue, convicted drunk drivers must use an ignition interlock device.
In 2005 there were 3,163 drivers convicted of second and subsequent offenses. Of those only about 19 percent, or 614, were required by the courts to install the interlocks. The shift of this responsibility for interlock devices from the courts to the Department of Revenue should address this problem.
The legislation signed by Gov. Blunt also addresses a loophole in our current drunk driving laws. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled, essentially, that municipal DWIs could not count in a prosecutor’s calculation of whether to charge a defendant as a persistent prior offender. This legislation closes this new loophole and with Gov. Blunt’s signature, municipal DWIs will once again count against a defendant.
Gov. Blunt’s action continues his strong stance against alcohol offenders. He has signed legislation closing a loophole in the law that had allowed some arrested for drunk driving to avoid prosecution on a technicality. He also signed legislation creating two new classes for repeat DWI offenders, aggravated and chronic, that both carry increased penalties. In addition the governor strengthened Missouri’s laws against underage drinking by changing penalties to address both the possession and consumption of alcohol by minors. In Missouri a minor could be found guilty of a "minor in possession" if he or she is visibly intoxicated or has a blood alcohol content of more than .02. New laws enacted by the governor also prohibits adults from allowing minors to drink on their private property unless they are the minor’s legal guardians and requires school districts to create a policy detailing the consequences if a student is found to either possess or drink alcohol on school property or at school events.