DUI and Ignition Interlock Devices
Posted on Aug 5, 2011 10:40am PDT
If you are convicted of a DUI in Arizona, you will be required to install an ignition interlock device (IID). This is a device, mounted in your vehicle, which detects alcohol on your breath. You have to blow into it in order to start your vehicle.
The requirement to install it comes from ARS 28-1381(I)(6), which reads in relevant part:
"I. A person who is convicted of a violation of this section:
...
6. Shall be required by the department, on report of the conviction, to equip any motor vehicle the person operates with a certified ignition interlock device pursuant to § 28-3319."
Pursuant to ARS
28-3319(D)(1)(a), the period of the interlock is 1 year for a regular DUI. SB1200, recently enacted, will reduce the period to 6 months, effective January 1, 2012. The time periods are longer for 2nd time or extreme DUI (18 or 24 months).
Pursuant to ARS 28-3319(E), the period begins on the later of: 1) the date of reinstatement, or 2) the date of receipt of the report of the
conviction.
You can then find all the details regarding the interlock at ARS 28-1461 et seq. But here are the pitfalls:
The Arizona MVD has two requirements with respect to the interlock. First, you MUST install the interlock in some vehicle for the required time period of one year (or 18/24 months). Second, you may not drive any vehicle that does not have the interlock in it.
If you violate the first rule, your license is suspended indefinitely until you begin satisfying it. There are NO exceptions to the first rule. Not owning a car does not get you out of it. So if you live with your parents and were driving their vehicle, you will have to get an IID installed on one of your parents' vehicles; if they refuse to allow that, you will have to buy a vehicle (maybe a junker) just to put an IID on it. Otherwise, you can't drive any vehicle at all.
If you violate the second rule, you get a misdemeanor citation and if convicted, the period of the requirement is extended.
There is one exception to the second rule: a employer-owned vehicle with the appropriate waiver in the vehicle. There are no other exceptions to the second rule.
As with all MVD issues, the MVD offices in most states are hooked together electronically, and they work together. So if you were visiting Arizona, and you think that you can ignore Arizona's IID requirment because you are going home to (for instance) Chicago, you can't; when Arizona suspends your privilege to drive in Arizona for non-compliance, the state of Illinois will suspend your Illinois drivers license as well.
DUI is expensive, and the penalties are burdensome. Don't try to face it alone. Get a Phoenix DUI Attorney on your side.
Contact us right away for a free consultation.