These last two days have been some of the most nerve wracking 48 hours of your life!
It is not that any part of the last year has been a picnic, but these last 48 hours have been the worst!
When your 30 year old son called to say that he was coming home from California, he offered few details. Once he arrived back home, however, the details slowly emerged. In the midst of the story of his marriage ending and his doctoral degree remaining unfinished were painful tales of drinking binges and total blackouts. And while you are your wife have tried everything in your power to help your adult son through this rough transition, but many of your efforts have been in vain. The fact that he booked himself a one way ticket and flew back to California to get the rest of his things is a step in the right direction. It is an indicator that he is moving on. The fact that he is renting a Suburban and driving it back himself, however, is alarming.
On his car at home he has an interlock device that requires him to breathe into the mechanism before the car will stop. The Suburban that he rents, obviously, will not have an interlock device. You know he is an adult and he needs to held accountable for his own actions, but that does not mean that you will quit worrying until you know that he is home safe and sound.
Car Breathalyzer Costs Are Inconsequential When Compared to the Lives That They Can Save
Whether you are the parent, the spouse, or a friend of someone who is an alcoholic you likely understand the stress of waiting to hear from the person you care so much about. With a ignition interlock installation, however, you may be able to avoid sleepless nights. Without the help of an interlock installation, however, you might spend hours worrying about the safety of your loved one.
Consider some of these facts and figures about interlock devices that can help prevent people from starting a car if they have been drinking:
- 28 people die as a result of drunk driving every day in America.
- Placed there for drivers with multiple DUI convictions, there are already nearly 150,000 interlock systems in cars in the U.S., and this number continues to grow.
- Interlocks are associated with about a 70% reduction in arrest rates for impaired driving.
- $59 billion is the annual cost of alcohol-related crashes in the U.S.
- Ignition interlocks prohibit the engine from starting if an alcohol sensing device registers above a pre-set level, often around 0.02 BAC.
- Most ignition interlock devices will prompt you to perform a rolling retest five to 15 minutes after the vehicle is started, as well as randomly throughout the trip.
Instead of worrying about the safety of your loved one, maybe it is time to make sure that you install ignition interlock devices in all of your vehicles.
