Bishop - Tool available in Inyo for combating repeat DUIs

Anyone who is caught drinking and driving in Inyo County may face a new penalty for their infraction now that Bishop has a certified ignition interlock device service and installation center.
That means that anyone caught drinking and driving in Inyo County may be required to install an ignition interlock device (IID) that requires a driver to take a breathalyzer test before they can turn on their ignition.
If the driver has alcohol in their blood system, the device will not allow the vehicle to start.
The Ignition Interlock Device (IID) is a behavior-modification tool required by law for some DUI-related offences, and offered to multiple DUI offenders that allows for early reinstatement of driving privileges through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The IID has been used as a DUI countermeasure throughout California since the early 1990s. In 1999, the program was expanded with Assembly Bill 762 to include the DMV as the administrative authority and allow IID-conditional early license reinstatement for multiple DUI offenders.
Assembly Bill 2227, in 2001, strengthened the court’s ability to order IID installation for any DUI offender and required the court to impose IID installation for any DUI offender and mandates that the court require installation for any DUI offender who is caught driving on a suspended license.

Steve Garrison, owner of Marsh’s Automotive in Bishop, demonstrates the ignition interlock device. Marsh’s is the first certified service center for the IIDs, which will allow some DUI offenders to get their license back sooner if they have the mechanism installed in their vehicle. Photo by Darcy Ellis

According to Inyo County Superior Court Judge Dean Stout, Inyo County has had the option of mandating the IID to DUI offenders, but has been reluctant to pass down that judgement because, up until last week, there had not been a local installation and service center for the devices.
“I have ordered it, but it has been kind of problematic because you have to have them installed and they require regular calibration,” a service that was not available in Inyo County, Stout said. “The reality to date has been, because there was no local service centers, offenders couldn’t drive at all. In a sense, offenders up here were treated more harshly.”
But with a local service center, all that is expected to change.
Marsh’s Automotive, at 386 S. Sneden St. in Bishop, went through a day of training with Ignition Interlock Service Centers of California, Inc. on Saturday, March 14, and is now certified to install and conduct regular maintenance on the devices.
When asked why he wanted Marsh’s to become a certified IID service center, owner Steve Garrison said it was “for community safety. We’re trying to cut down on the amount of people that are able to drink and get behind the wheel. Over time, hopefully, it’ll become a behavioral modification device so people can learn not to drink if they’re getting behind the wheel, or have someone sober drive for them.”
Of the training, Garrison said, “It was pretty basic. They showed us how to install and calibrate them. They must be calibrated every couple of months, and when we do that, we make sure they haven’t been tampered with.”
The IIDs are wired into the ignition system of the vehicle and are virtually impossible to bypass without proper training.
Garrison also said it is difficult to try and cheat the IIDs, as they recognize the difference between human breath and improvised, mechanical devices that could be used to provide alcohol-free airflow into the system before a vehicle is started.
“It’s pretty neat stuff,” Garrison said, “it’s amazing how much stuff that device will detect, it does detect human breath, you can’t fake it out.”
Garrison also said that the IIDs require a high volume of air, which means young children would probably not be able to activate the ignition.
The system also prevents drivers from getting a sober friend to blow into the device for them because “after you start the car and you’re driving, randomly or periodically you have to blow into it again to keep the car going,” Garrison said.
Drivers could get around that by riding with a sober passenger, but, hopefully, if there is a sober driver present, he or she would be the one behind the wheel.
The IIDs keep a record of the tests that drivers take, dates and times of the test and “a full log of the vehicle’s activity,” the trainer from IID said. That activity log is sent to the company’s office, where it is analyzed on a case-by-case basis. The data is then reported back to the courts or DMV.
Ignition Interlock Service Centers of California, Inc. is also working on new technology that will recognize an individual’s breath to prevent drivers from cheating the system, Garrison said.
As the technology of the IIDs continues to grow, Judge Stout said it is an asset to the community to have a local service center.
“This is kind of a two-fold benefit because people in Inyo are being treated fairly, and I think it will increase public safety” by ensuring that DUI offenders are not driving with measurable amounts of alcohol in their system, Stout said. “I think this is great on both fronts.”
The court is prohibited from employing “blanket policies,” so not all DUI offenders will be strapped with the IID, but in some circumstances, the courts are encouraged and even mandated to order installation of the device for offenders.
According to Stout, anyone who is caught driving under the influence with a suspended license is required to have the IID installed in their vehicle if they wish to drive. Drunk driving offenders who have a high blood alcohol content upon arrest are more likely to have the court order the IID.
There is also a law going into affect July 1 of this year that will allow the DMV, regardless of how the courts rule, to mandate installation of the IID for some drivers.