While The Baltimore Sun editorial, “Closing this loophole in Maryland’s drunk driving law could save lives” (Feb. 20), was a welcome call-to-action for Maryland legislators this year to finally close a gaping loophole in the state’s 2016-enacted “Noah’s Law,” it’s important to underscore why this legislative action is needed.
According to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, more than half (50.4%) of persons (in closed cases) adjudicated for either driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI, 21-902[a]) or driving while impaired by alcohol (DWI, 21-902[b]) in Maryland in 2022 were granted probation in the form of probation before judgment (PBJ) and therefore not subject to participation in Maryland’s ignition interlock program which has proven to be effective. MVA disposition data for persons convicted that year of DWI is even more alarming as nearly two-thirds (63.6%) of those offenders were afforded PBJs without interlocks.
With ignition interlock devices reducing “repeat offenses for driving while intoxicated by about 70%,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and as interlocks are proven to be “highly effective in allowing a vehicle to be started by sober drivers but not by alcohol-impaired drivers,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this year’s legislation in Annapolis looks to simply ensure public safety along that route used by half of persons arrested for drunk driving in Maryland by subjecting all 21-902(a) and 21-902(b) offenders to Maryland’s interlock program as a condition of (PBJ) probation.
NHTSA data shows that “interlocks typically are used as a condition of probation for DWI offenders to prevent them from driving while impaired by alcohol after their driver’s licenses have been reinstated.” The need for such in Maryland is all too clear as fiscal year 2023 MVA interlock program data shows that more than 6,800 drivers were prevented from driving after consuming alcohol last year.
In a state where approximately a third of traffic fatalities still involve drunk drivers not using Maryland’s existing — and offender-paid — interlock program, it’s clear that not every tool in Maryland’s toolbox is being used to prevent drunk driving.
— Kurt Erickson, Tysons, Virginia
The writer is president and CEO of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
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