On March 26, 2013, the Georgia State Senate passed a bill designed to stiffen the penalties for drivers convicted of DUI twice within a five-year period.
Georgia House Bill 407 requires that second-time DUI offenders have an ignition interlock device (IID) installed in their vehicles for a period of 12 months. This legislation increases the time from the previous eight-month mandate.
A second bill, Senate Bill 15, was also introduced. It would require the installation of IIDs after a first DUI offense.
Up until this proposed change, Georgia law required that multiple offenders have their drivers’ licenses suspended for 120 days. Following that time period, they can apply for a probationary license, dependent on the installation of an IID in their vehicles.
The current bill would uphold the current 120-day suspension but increase the IID time period by four months.
According to some sources, the use of IIDs reduces the number of repeat offenders from between 50 and 90 percent. C.R. Chisholm, Jr., the solicitor-general of Athens-Clarke county reacted to the new law by saying, “I think [this] could have the impact of encouraging people to go through meaningful addiction treatment to address the underlying issue that’s causing the repeat offenders to repeat DUIs; that’s what we’re trying to do.”
An IID is a device that is connected to the ignition of the vehicle. The potential driver must blow into the device, which measures the amount of alcohol on his or her breath. If this measurement is over 0.08% for adult, over-21 drivers, or 0.02% for younger ones, the car will not start. It also will require random mid-trip tests.
DUI offenders must pay the costs of the IID, which include $75 to have it installed and $75 to remove it.
For more information on this, or help with your Georgia DUI, contact the Law Office of Scott Miller today.
