Many states are adopting new laws against drunk drivers that involve putting an ignition interlock system on the offender’s car.
An ignition interlock is essentially a breathalyzer wired into your car’s ignition system. A clean breath test is required to start the car and randomly occurring retests ensure the person who started the car is the one still driving it. Minnesota’s new law for example, imposes ignition interlock on DWI offenders whose blood alcohol concentration is .16 (twice the legal limit) or higher.
We predict laws like these will create jobs in two particular industries.
The obvious one is the ignition interlock business. As we point out in our “Avoiding DUI with Devices” article, somebody who desires an ignition interlock device will want to consider location above everything else due to the necessary monthly visits to the shop for calibration and data collection. The sudden influx of customers for ignition interlock installation centers all over a given state is going to drive the demand for more of these centers with qualified staff everywhere.
Think about what will have to happen when the entire nation eventually adopts ignition interlock laws. 1,000,000 people at any one time will have ignition interlock systems on their cars! There will be a need for ignition interlock installation centers in almost every city and town in America.
The other industry that can expect job growth from these new laws is Designated Driver Services. Designated driver services are companies and organizations that get both you and your car home safely after a night of drinking. Some of them use foldaway scooters that they stow in your trunk while they drive you home in your car. Some send two people in a chase car so that one can drive your car home while the other follows.
These new laws present a situation where the court can impose punishment on you AND your family. It goes like this …
Dad goes out, gets himself a DWI and now the family car has an ignition interlock on it. Dad may also be in treatment programs and might even be wearing a SCRAM alcohol-monitoring bracelet. But the rest of the family is prevented from driving the family car after drinking too! Think about that. Now, nobody can drive the car after drinking. It’s still OK for Mom to go out and have a drink, but she is faced with the same situation in using the car as Dad.
With ignition interlock, somebody has to blow below a .02 to start the car and no sober person is going to blow for you AND be your passenger for the rolling retests. If you drink, you need a clean driver to get home. A designated driver service is a simple solution to this dilemma.
So ignition interlock laws create new opportunities for designated driver services. As their new law takes effect, 12 of Minnesota’s 87 counties have designated driver services operating in them. We expect that number to grow as we have seen happen in other states like Washington and Illinois which have adopted ignition interlock laws.
UPDATE (10.22.10) - Here is an example of what we’re talking about in an article from New York …
DWI Law Means Business For Auto Repair Shops …
One of the biggest problems my group has isn’t convincing folks that they have a problem. It’s convincing them to address the biggest one first and then deal with the other stuff. Nobody seems to want to do that. Everyone wants a reason or an excuse. They want to worry about the big bruise on their arm when there leg is cut off and they are bleeding out.