Ignition Interlock Devices FAQs

Answer: An ignition interlock device is a machine or instrument that gets installed into a person’s car; it gets hardwired into the car’s system and if it’s installed properly does not cause any permanent damage or affect the car in any negative way. But the machine is designed to screen for alcohol in the human breath and an ignition interlock device machine can be set for certain levels, so if someone were to have an estimated blood alcohol level of 0.01 or 0.02, the ignition interlock device would stop the person from being able to start the car.

It’s important to know that the ignition interlock devices will not cut off a car, so if you’re driving down the street and somebody blows into an ignition interlock device in a car that’s already running, it’s not going to stop the car from running but it will store that information and it could report it to the service provider and possibly to the court. But ignition interlock devices are usually small, handheld devices with a wire that runs underneath the dash of the car. Ignition interlock devices are actually required of anybody in Los Angeles County that’s convicted of driving under the influence.

There are four pilot counties in California: Los Angeles County is one of the pilot counties. Anybody convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles would be required to install an ignition interlock device in their car for some period of time, whether that’s a first time DUI or a multiple offense. And of course there are fees associated with it. The ignition interlock companies charge installation fee, a removal fee and they often charge a monitoring fee to check the equipment on a regular basis.

Answer: An ignition interlock is going to cost somebody roughly five or six hundred dollars on a first time DUI in Los Angeles County. There’s going to be a cost to install it which varies from company to company, but usually the installation fee is somewhere around $75. It’s also usual for there to be a monthly monitoring fee of about the same $75, and then there would be a fee to remove the instrument from a car which often times is around $75. Some companies are a little more, some are a little less; some vendors, some companies will work with attorneys by giving them discount cards if the attorney has a working relationship with them. But it’s not unusual on a first time offense to be around $500 to $600.

Answer: If somebody’s convicted of driving under the influence in Los Angeles County, they are going to be required to install an ignition interlock on any car that they own or operate. The ignition interlock period on a first-time DUI is a 5-month period so on a first-time DUI they would have to have an ignition interlock for 5 months. If they get a second time DUI, it would be a one-year ignition interlock requirement.

Answer: Attorneys can help with the amount of time someone would need to use an ignition interlock device. There are certain triggers that require ignition interlock devices and there are certain enhancements which may increase the length of time that someone needs to have an ignition interlock in the car. Probably the best way that an attorney can help somebody minimize the cost and the need of having an ignition interlock device is to be able to get charges reduced. If somebody is stopped and arrested for driving under the influence and they hire an attorney who is able to get the charges reduced even a little bit to reckless driving from a DUI (what’s commonly referred to as a wet reckless) that ignition interlock requirement goes away.

So that would be the best way to avoid the ignition interlock. So in years past, a wet reckless may be very similar to a DUI and not be something that I would want to recommend whereas now a lot of times the wet reckless is good enough or is a big difference between a DUI and a wet because of the ignition interlock and what affect that would have on someone’s employment or ability to drive. A lot of times the wet reckless is where we need to go to get a victory in court.

Answer: People violate the ignition interlock law all the time and there’s several different ways to do that. The most common way is to just not install an ignition interlock in a car and drive anyways. What happens is people are then driving on a suspended license, and it is actually a new offense to be caught driving when you are supposed to have an ignition interlock and you don’t.

Usually people are not getting into trouble with the ignition interlock installed. Someone may have something to drink and go out to their car and try to start it. The car may not start, and they’re not going to get in trouble for that. That typically is not reported. It may be recorded, and the provider or the company that installed the ignition interlock may gather that information and collect it, but it is typically not reported to the court. It’s not a violation to go out to the car and blow a positive test and then not drive. The ignition interlock has accomplished its task and people don’t usually get in trouble for that. It’s driving without the ignition interlock where people get into trouble.

Answer: The ignition interlock is designed to test somebody who is going to drive a car and test a person while they’re driving a car. What the ignition interlock is trying to prevent is someone leaving the car idling outside the bar, going in, having some drinks, coming back out and getting in the car. The machine is designed to take what are called rolling tests. Not only do you have to blow into the machine to get the car started whenever you go out in the morning or in the evening, but while you’re driving, it will then ask for tests. If you blow into the test and it’s a positive test, it will record that but it will not cut the engine out or cause any accident. However, it will keep track of that and that will be reported to the company.

Answer: In Los Angeles County if you’re convicted of a DUI, first, second, third DUI an ignition interlock device is required. If you do not own or have access to a car, you can fill out a declaration stating you do not own or have access to a car, but you’re not going to be able to get a driver’s license. You’re not going to be able to get the privilege to drive without installing that ignition interlock device, so if at some point you do get a car, you would then be required to put the ignition interlock device in the car at that time.

Answer: Ignition interlock manufacturers typically use what’s called a fuel cell; it is one type of device that can be used for testing for breath alcohol to determine what a blood alcohol content is. The fuel cells that are used are varying degrees of quality, and some ignition interlock instruments may use a very high-quality fuel cell and very high-quality equipment. Some may use very poor-quality equipment which may get a lot of false positives, a lot of interference, and a lot of other problems with the equipment. So do you want to be selective on which company you use and what equipment you install in the car because you don’t want to have problems using your car due to a faulty ignition interlock instrument.

Answer: The most difficult thing to understand when using the ignition interlock device is probably a combination of interfering substances and a proper blowing technique. Some people may have difficulty using an ignition interlock device because they’re not blowing correctly or they’re not blowing hard enough or don’t have the lung capacity to blow a sufficient sample into the machine.

So that’s one problem we often see. When somebody isn’t blowing correctly or isn’t providing enough air, that could result in the machine not unlocking the car and preventing someone from driving. Another issue which may cause a lock out and stop someone from being able to drive is if there’s an interfering substance. It could be alcohol that someone drank, but it also could be other alcohol-based products like a cologne, perfume, or mouthwash. Sometimes if someone is wearing a lot of a product containing alcohol, the fumes can build up inside of a car with its windows and doors closed. That can cause interference. Fumes coming from a gas can in the car or other various things could set off a false positive with the machine. Interfering substances have been known to cause the ignition interlock device to lock out a person from being able to drive. That’s probably another common factor, a common error that we see in ignition interlocks.

Answer: Ignition interlock requirements are for any car you own or operate. If somebody’s going to be driving a vehicle for work, there are some exceptions. You would need to fill out special paperwork in petition to avoid the requirement of an ignition interlock at work. It does involve telling your employer about it in the state.

If somebody wants to drive out of state then the driving privilege and requirements as far as ignition interlock devices are going to be controlled or governed by that particular state. So if somebody has a DUI conviction in California and they want to go to Nevada to take a job, it’s going to depend on what the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles knows about their license status and what they do about it. There are certain waivers and exceptions that we can get for out-of-state residents, but it’s going to be a case-by-case, state-by-state basis.

Answer: Another case study, a recent victory, I handled was a second-time DUI case in Los Angeles. My client was arrested for driving under the influence, and he was actually not driving. He was parked, but the police officers wrote up in their report that he was actually driving under the influence, stating they actually saw him driving. He had a chemical test result of 0.16 / 0.18, so over twice the legal limit was the allegation in the report about my client. He did have a prior DUI, so that’s kind of why the officers jumped to the conclusion that he was driving under the influence.

They pulled him out of the car; they did a full investigation as far as field sobriety testing and breath testing and transporting to the station. What we were able to do in this case was prove what my client said from the very beginning: he wasn’t driving; he was actually sleeping in the car. We conducted a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hearing, where we actually subpoenaed the police officer. We brought the police officer into the DMV and questioned him under oath about where he was, what he saw and where our client was. We proved at this DMV hearing that although the officers indicated in the report that he was driving, the officers never actually saw him drive; he was actually sleeping in the car when the officer saw him and that he told the officers where he had been eating and drinking which was about 75 feet away from where the car was parked.

So after several months of litigating and fighting with the city attorney’s office, we were able to show them this transcript from the DMV hearing where our client said that he had not driven and was not going to drive and that the police officers admitted that unlike in the report, where they said they saw him driving, they did not actually see driving and that the client was in fact sleeping at the time that the police showed up. The city attorney’s office decided that this was not sufficient to justify a reduction but actually added charges to the case when we told them that we were going to take the case to trial if they didn’t reduce it. And they did, in fact, amend the complaint and added additional charges trying to increase the penalty against our client. Our client stood his ground based on our advice, and we continued forward towards trial regardless of the fact that the alcohol level was twice the legal limit.

Our client did the right thing: he parked and slept until he would feel comfortable that he would be safe to drive. We set the case for trial and we actually got sent to a judge to start picking a jury. It was at that point that the case was transferred to a new city attorney who reviewed all of the reports and the transcripts that we created through the DMV hearing process, and after discussing the case with the city attorney and answering some questions that were very appropriate questions, they realized that not only were enhanced additional charges not appropriate but they agreed that the client did the right thing, didn’t drive and the DUI charges were dismissed in their entirety.

The Department of Motor Vehicles unfortunately did not make the right decision in the beginning: the DMV actually suspended the license believing that the officers observing the client in the car with the engine running was enough to be driving under the influence. We did appeal of the DMV decision, sending the matter up to Sacramento to be reviewed by a supervisor along with the brief and the case law stating that sleeping in a car is not driving in the state of California, that there was no movement of the car and without movement of the car or some other extraneous circumstances, there should be no suspension of the license.

On appeal, we were successful. The suspension was set aside; a not guilty at the DMV was entered, and our client walked away a free man. So it took us 3 or 4 months to handle this case, to set the case for trial, start trial and do the appeal. At the end of the day, after all the fighting, we were successful in getting all DUI charges dismissed and the license reissued to our client with full driving privileges. No conviction, no suspension. So that was another recent victory.