New DUI law in effect

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Illinois' policy on drunken driving now ranks among the toughest in the nation after a new DUI law took effect Thursday. The law is aimed at first-time offenders. It doubles the driver's license suspension period and requires those who petition the court to drive during that time to install an ignition interlock device in their car, said Al Williams, Lee County assistant state's attorney. Ignition interlock devices read drivers' blood-alcohol content. The car won't start if the driver's breath sample registers a BAC of .025 or more, a much lower level than the legal limit for drunken driving, which is .08. In addition to a start-up blow, the devices also require drivers to breathe into them at random intervals while the vehicle is running, Williams said. Under the old law, first offenders' licenses were suspended for 3 months if they failed a breathalyzer test and for 6 months if they refused to take one, Williams said. First-timers also could ask the court, after 30 days, for a restricted driving permit that allowed them to drive during certain periods - to and from work or school, for example. The restricted permits have been replaced with "monitoring device driving permits," or MDDPs, Williams said. Offenders still have to wait 30 days before they can ask the court for permission to install an ignition interlock device in their cars. Anyone who requests one will be allowed one; in fact, if you don't want an MDDP, you have to send the court a letter saying so, according to the new law. Drivers must rent and install the devices at their own expense. They also must pay the secretary of state a $30-per-month fee - with the amount for the entire suspension period due up front - to monitor the devices. There are about a half dozen manufacturers who supply more than 3,000 devices to Illinois drivers, said Justin Morfey, owner of Triple A Interlock. He's expecting the number of units required across the state to triple as a result of the new law. The average rate for installation of the devices is about $70, Morfey said, and it costs about $70 a month to rent them. The usual punishment period for first-time offenders is 24 months. That could be on top of a 6- or 8-month suspension period before the case goes to trial, though, when drivers who either fail or refuse to take Breathalyzer tests lose their licenses. "Anybody even arrested for DUI will lose their license for at least 30 days," Williams said. "Say you get a 6-month suspension, but you don't go to court for 8 months. You get [the device] on your own, then you're ordered to court supervision and are required to get another one. You could be double hit." Drivers could try to skirt the devices by, say, having someone else blow into detector or driving someone else's car. But if caught trying to circumvent the interlocks, they could go to jail for up to 3 years. Around 3,000 Illinoisans with multiple DUIs had the devices before Thursday. Within a year, up to 30,000 first-time offenders could be using them, the Illinois Secretary of State's office estimates. New Mexico was the first state to pass an ignition interlock DUI law aimed at first-time offenders, in 2005. Arizona followed suit 2 years later. Other states with similar laws include Louisiana, Washington, Nebraska, Alaska and Colorado. Alcohol-related fatalities dropped by 11 percent the year stronger drunken-driving laws went into effect in New Mexico, according to the DWI Resource Center. The Associated Press contributed to this report. DUI's issued on Jan. 1 Rock Falls Police Department N/A Sterling Police Department 1 Whiteside County Sheriff's Department 0 Illinois State Police 2 Amboy Police Department 0 Dixon Police Department 0 Lee County Sheriff's Department 0