Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to keep first-time drunk drivers from doing it again. On Wednesday the Senate unanimously passed a bill that requires first-time convicted drunk drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .10 or higher to use ignition airlocks for a year. The device won’t let a car engine turn on if the driver is drunk. Governor Tom Wolf…
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf will sign a measure that expands Pennsylvania's ignition lock law to first-time drunken drivers.
The Senate passed the measure unanimously Wednesday. The House passed the bill Monday after several years of work to expand Pennsylvania's 2003 law that requires repeat drunk-driving offenders to use the devices for one year.
Under the bill, a first-time convicted drunk driver with an illegal blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 or higher could drive with an ignition interlock for one year, in lieu of a suspended license.
Senate officials say nearly every other state has a similar law. The provision wouldn't take effect for 15 months and wouldn't apply to people admitted to a diversion program designed for first-time nonviolent offenders.
Also, certain repeat offenders would become eligible to resume driving with an ignition lock during the period that their license was suspended.
