Some lawmakers met on Tuesday to show support for Senate Bill 290, which would mandate that first time DUI offenders who had an illegal blood alcohol level of .10 or more use an ignition interlock on their car.
The interlocks test a driver’s breath for alcohol before allowing the car to operate. Current PA law requires the interlocks for second-time or subsequent offenses.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving attended the event to show support for the bill. They say more than 30 other states have enacted the interlock law for first-time offenders, and some of those states have seen a sharper decline in drunk driving deaths as a result.
“We’re losing a little more than a life a day to drunk drivers in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” says state Senator John Rafferty (R-Montgomery County).
Rafferty says the bill has bipartisan support and he expects it to pass this session.
