"Lobbyist Criticism of Anti-DWI Device Is Irresponsible"

SANTA FE, N.M., March 18 -- A Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group is spreading deceptive information that questions a proven safety device to reduce DWI, just when the New Mexico Legislature is considering new laws to combat drunken driving.

The group, representing bars and restaurants, seeks to preserve loopholes in legislation mandating greater use of ignition interlock devices, which test the breath of drivers prior to starting their car engines and disengages the ignition if there's any measurable alcohol. Numerous scientific research reports have shown that interlock devices are very effective in reducing drunken driving -- especially for repeat offenders.

Loopholes in New Mexico's laws allow many convicted drunken drivers to avoid having ignition interlock devices installed in their cars. Legislation closing these loopholes, which is overwhelmingly supported by New Mexico lawmakers, is making its way through the state Capitol.

The American Beverage Institute, which opposes interlock and other measures to enforce DWI laws, draws unscientific conclusions from a single California study of ignition interlock devices.

"These claims are irresponsible because they take one inference from a study completely out of context," said Richard Roth, Ph.D., the president of Impact DWI, a nonprofit organization to reduce drunken driving in New Mexico. "The fact is that interlock laws are not being implemented in California, so interpreting data on crashes and drunken driving convictions from that study may not be at all meaningful."

The California study itself states that " ... the small sample size in this study may have limited statistical power ... " and that "there may also be a significant effect of (interlock) installation in reducing subsequent DUI convictions."

"When drawing conclusions from research, an honest analyst must include the entire body of research, not just pick and choose," Roth said.

"The fact that ignition interlocks reduce drunken driving is not up for debate; it's been firmly established," said Paul Marques, Ph.D., a senior research scientist with Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a nonprofit public health institute that is the leader in interlock research. Marques, who has been studying interlock systems for 15 years, said that about a dozen studies in different jurisdictions have established the effectiveness of such devices. One study in Alberta, Canada, of about 1,400 convicted drunken drivers, found that first offenders that used interlock devices were 22 times less likely to have repeat offenses than other first offenders that didn't use the device.

Loopholes in interlock laws across the country have resulted in this effective device being installed in only a fraction of cases. In New Mexico, only 12 percent of those arrested for DWI have interlocks installed -- and that's the best rate in the country.

Drunken driving kills 17,000 people each year in America, a death toll nearly six times greater than that of 9/11 -- every year. And a half-million people are injured annually.

"This terrible toll could be reduced if our courts are given effective tools," Roth said. "One of those tools is interlock."