Getting the facts straight on New Mexico's DWI interlock law
Dan Bernhardt // Independent Record (Reader's Alley)January 15, 2010
In response to Sarah Longwell's letter to the editor, the first mandatory interlock law actually went into effect in New Mexico on Jan. 1, 2003, not in 2005 as you state.
In 1999, it was optional for all second and third DWIs. In 2002, it was mandatory for all aggravated and subsequent DWIs. 2003 was when the Ignition Interlock License Act was in place as an alternative to license revocation. 2005 was when mandatory interlocks were for all DWIs.
In New Mexico, your first DWI gets you a year with the device, your second gets you two years, your third gets you three years and if you have more than three, you have the device for life.
Let's take a look at some of the numbers from a New Mexico study and the readers can be the judge:
Interlocked offenders have a 69 percent lower rearrest rate than noninterlocked offenders.
DWI arrests stayed relatively constant.
Alcohol-involved crashes are down 31 percent.
Alcohol-involved injury crashes are down 39 percent.
Thirty-two percent fewer people were injured in DWI crashes.
Alcohol-involved fatal crashes are down 22 percent.
Alcohol-involved fatalities are down 38 percent.
So, you are correct, Ms. Longwell, the numbers have been decreasing since 2003, the same year the law went into place. The numbers don't lie. My only concern is why the beverage industry would send the perception they are against this safety device.
Dan Bernhardt
Helena
Richard Berman has been a regular front man for business and industry in campaigns against consumer safety and environmental groups. Through his public affairs firm, Berman and Company, Berman has fought unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, PETA and other watchdog groups in their efforts to raise awareness about obesity, the minimum wage, the dangers of smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, and other causes. Berman runs at least 15 industry-funded front groups and projects, such as the Center for Union Facts and holds 16 "positions" in those organizations.
Each year, Berman, using his front groups to spread misinformation, spends millions of dollars distracting the public with misleading ads.
As a result of his largesse, in 2006, Richard Berman used $2,000,000 in cash to buy this $3.3 million house.
