Missouri DWI Information & News Blog

Fulton, MO

About 70,000 Missourians with two driving-while-intoxicated convictions have been sent letters informing them that they now must have breath monitoring devices installed for six months on their vehicles in order to regain their license to operate them in Missouri.

On Tuesday three Missouri agencies announced a special statewide enforcement of the ignition interlock law that went into effect today. The enforcement effort also will involve other traffic laws, including speeding and wearing seat belts.

The agencies included in the crackdown are the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Missouri Division of Highway Safety and the Missouri Department of Revenue.

The device was demonstrated Tuesday in Jefferson City by Abraham Garcia, who represents Smart Start, an approved manufacturer for the device in Missouri.

Garcia breathed into the device that was installed on a Chrysler sedan he brought to Jefferson City for the kickoff of the statewide "The Heat is On" enforcement effort.

The new law is aimed at repeat drunken drivers who want to regain their driver's licenses.

When the devices are installed the engine cannot be started until after the driver breaths into an alcohol detector, proving he or she is sober.

To help prevent someone else from breathing into the device to get the car started, the devices are programmed to require the driver on a random basis to stop the car and retest. It is also a crime for another person to breath into the device who is not driving.

The Missouri Department of Revenue, which issues driver's licenses, will enforce the new law on violators caught by law enforcement agencies.

The new law requires drivers wanting to get their license restored after a second drunk driving conviction to use the device for six months.

The devices are leased for the six month period at costs varying from about $70 to $100 a month. They also must be installed only by vendors approved by the state. Installation costs varies from $30 to about $200 in some cities.

There is no approved vendor for the device in Fulton. The nearest vendors are located in Jefferson City and Columbia.

In Jefferson City the authorized interlock vendors are The Entertainer, 2511 West Edgewood Drive; Mobiltek, 1805 Valley Hi Road; and Ewers Tires and Service, 1401 Missouri Blvd.

In Columbia, the authorized interlock vendors are Midwest Audio Visions, 3605 South Providence Road, Suite 7; Sound Performance, 1310 Indiana St.; and R & R Car Audio, 416 Big Bear Blvd.

Drivers with the devices installed also must have them rechecked every month at the vendor.

People required to have the device who are caught driving without it could face an additional two-year driver's license suspension.

A law was passed in Missouri in 2001 allowing judges to order interlock devices for people convicted of two drunken driving convictions.

Former Gov. Matt Blunt wanted a law to mandate the devices because he said judges were not making use of the option.

The law that goes into effect today was passed in 2008 but it did not go into effect until this July in order to allow enforcement procedures to be geared up and rule-making procedures adopted during the last year.

The law was approved by the Missouri General Assembly last year by a vote of 29-5 in the Senate and by a vote of 132-13 in the House.

Slightly more than one-third of the states in the nation also have passed laws requiring use of the devices by first or second DWI offenders.

Legislation requiring the device for first-time DWI offenders was introduced in the 2009 session of the Missouri General Assembly but it did not pass.