In letters to the California Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committees, Advocates is supporting provisions in Assembly Bill (AB) 1830 to strengthen the ignition interlock device (IID) law to curb drunk driving. AB 1830 makes permanent the IID pilot program and upgrades the law to require the use of IIDs by all convicted drunk drivers and as a condition of license reinstatement. We urge California to join the majority of states which have made their streets and highways safer by enacting an all-offender IID law.
Drunk driving is a deadly and costly threat to California families. In 2024, 1,311 people were needlessly killed in drunk driving crashes in California according to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This is a 45 percent increase in drunk driving fatalities compared to 2015 and accounted for 34 percent of all traffic fatalities that year, which exceeds the national average of 30 percent.
States that have adopted IID laws for all offenders are saving lives, reducing injuries and preventing drunk driving recidivism. For example, when West Virginia adopted its IID program, recidivism was reduced by 77 percent among first time offenders.
Read the full letter to the Senate Transportation Committee here and to the Public Safety Committee here.
Advocates previously supported AB 1830 in a May email to the California Assembly and in a March letter to the Assembly Public Safety Committee.