Tougher DWI law expected to increase demand for ignition devices

SARATOGA SPRINGS - New York's sweeping new DWI laws are putting pressure on local counties to be ready when they take effect next month.

The law will require ignition interlocks on cars of all people convicted of DWI.

Counties are scrambling to make sure there are enough ignition locks to go around.

Ignition interlock devices used to be reserved for just a few cases. They require people who've been convicted of drunken driving to blow into a tube to prove that their sober. If they're not, the car won't start.

Adirondack 2-Way Radio in Moreau installs about 10 of them a month. But the new law requiring the locks for all felony DWI convictions takes effect next month.

"Expecting a lot more clients. It's been a long time coming," said Steve Reeves of Adirondack 2-Way Radio.

Phase two of the law begins in nine months. It's then that all DWI convictions, felony and misdemeanor, will require the devices.

"Basically we have nine months to go from 0 to 60," said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy. "I'm concerned there aren't enough ignition interlock companies out there."

There are just a handful of companies in the area that install the devices, but prosecutors expect more will crop up when demand increases -- and it will definitely increase.

"We're going from maybe ten to probably 600 or more in this county alone and 19,000 annually in New York State," Murphy predicted.

Including installation and monthly service fees, the locks can cost drunken drivers up to $6,000 over the term of a five-year sentence. Prosecutors call it money well spent.

"This is a tremendous step in the right direction for public safety. It's something that's long overdue," Murphy said.

Each device generates reports each time the driver uses them. Counties are also scrambling to figure out who will handle the reams of new data. Among the options are probation officers, district attorney's offices or the County Stop DWI offices.