Associated Press
Published: February 12, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Del. Sal Iaquinto wants to make sure that first-time DUI offenders don’t drive drunk a second time - at least not right away.
That’s why he proposed legislation requiring installation of ignition interlock devices upon a first conviction of drunken driving. An ignition interlock is equipment that the driver must blow into to start his car. If the driver has alcohol on his breath, the car won’t start.
The law now requires the device upon a second DUI conviction. Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach, said Tuesday that mandating it after the first offense will save lives.
The House apparently agreed and voted 80-18 to pass the bill.
Some delegates, however, said the measure goes too far.
“You’re bringing a hammer to kill a fly,” Del. Kenneth Melvin protested.
Melvin, D-Portsmouth, said most people who get one DUI never get another.
“They’re chagrined, they’re embarrassed and they’re lighter in the pocket,” he said.
If Iaquinto’s bill becomes law, he said, not only will first-time offenders have to blow into an interlock, so will their spouses and any driving-age children who also use the car.
Melvin said he’s satisfied with the current law.
“But this is a wide, wide net you’re casting here. You’re not just getting the guy who sits at the bar and drinks three or four shots. You’re getting your aunts who have wine at somebody’s house on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. You’re getting your own relatives, your own friends,” Melvin said.
Iaquinto argued, however, that other attempts to crack down on drunken driving - lowering the blood-alcohol standard to .08 percent and increasing fines and jail terms - don’t seem to be working. He said New Mexico saw a 20 percent reduction in drunken-driving fatalities after requiring the interlock after a first conviction.
“Are we going to wait until after someone decimates another family because they were drunk while driving to implement a penalty?” Iaquinto said.
Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, said he frequently sees defendants in court “bawling like a baby” because they drove drunk and killed someone.
“Until people stop driving drunk, I intend to keep coming down here and increasing punishments until it stops,” Albo said. “This is a front-end way to make people stop.”
The bill now goes to the Senate. Melvin suggested many of his colleagues who voted for the measure did so thinking “thank God for the body down the hall, which will kill it.”