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Ignition Interlock Required For NY Drunk Drivers

The ignition interlock device that senses alcohol use is now required for all vehicles owned by anyone convicted of drunk driving. Drivers must blow into the device, which uses a breathalyzer to determine if they've been drinking.

The provision is part of "Leandra's Law," named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who died in a drunk driving crash last year.

"This is going to save many lives, many lives. You're not just putting people in harm in the vehicle with you, but you also can take lives. Someone else who's driving [can kill] innocent people," said Lenny Rosado, Leandra's father. "So it's the beginning of something new, something great."

The interlocks will cost drivers between $75 and $100, plus monthly fees.

Take a look at this short video describing how the ignition interlock works.


(Ignition interlock video)

Philip K. Dick had this future pretty well fleshed-out in his 1963 novel The Game Players of Titan:

It had been a bad night, and when he tried to drive home he had a terrible argument with his car.

"Mr. Garden, you are in no condition to drive. Please use the auto-auto mech and recline in the rear seat."

Pete Garden sat at the steering tiller and said as distinctly has he could manage, "Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"

The auto-auto said "You have not inserted the key."

"Okay," he said, feeling humiliated. Maybe the car was right...
(Read more about Dick's alcohol-sensing system)

Via NY1.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/13/2010)

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