Ignition Interlock Devices (IID) Save Lives
Expand Use of this Proven Technology
Restore All-Offender IID Mandate and Pass Assembly Bill (AB) 1830
The Issue:
- Traffic crashes are a deadly and costly threat to California families and visitors that require urgent attention and action.
- In 2025, there were an overall estimated 3,630 traffic fatalities on roads in the state according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
- 34 percent of California traffic deaths in 2024 involved drunk driving, which exceeds the national average of 30 percent.
- Traffic fatalities involving drunk driving increased 45 percent in the state from 2015 to 2024.
- Traffic crashes also cost California $29.1 billion annually, amounting to a “crash tax” of $736 on every resident, according to a 2019 analysis. Updating for inflation only, that equates to $37.6 billion in 2026 dollars.
- Nationally, drunk driving crashes also create a financial burden of $69 billion in economic costs in 2019. When updated for inflation only that equates to $89.2 billion in 2026 dollars.
The Solution:
- We respectfully request the removal of recently added language allowing first-time drunk driving offenders to serve a license suspension instead of installing an IID. Restoring the previous language would maximize the efficacy of the IID program and prevent a dangerous gap in the law.
- Adopting an all-offender IID law will dissuade drinking and driving and curb needless highway deaths and injuries which threaten all road users. Additionally, California’s IID law is a pilot program. Enacting AB 1830 would send a strong message against drunk driving by making the law permanent.
- Due to the efficacy of all-offender IID policy, most states have enacted all-offender IID laws.
- An IID physically prevents an impaired driver from starting a vehicle. A license suspension does not. Requiring an IID still allows driving for daily tasks such as taking children to school or going to work or medical appointments while preventing drunk driving.
- Information from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) on the effectiveness of IIDs notes that IIDs prevented 23,048 attempts to drive drunk in California in 2025 alone and 447,487 from 2006-2025. Expanding the law to include all first-time offenders would improve the effectiveness of the IID program and help prevent drunk driving.
- 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.
- When IIDs are installed, they are associated with an approximately 70 percent reduction in repeat offenses for impaired driving.
- A University of Pennsylvania study found that requiring IIDs for all drunk-driving convictions was associated with 15 percent fewer alcohol-involved crash deaths, compared with states with less stringent requirements
The American public strongly agrees that the use of IIDs is needed to address this public health crisis. Polling shows 69 to 88 percent of Americans support requiring ignition interlocks for all drunk drivers, even if it’s their first conviction. - Furthermore, 82 percent of drunk driving offenders believe the IID was effective in preventing them from driving after drinking.
Amend and Pass AB 1830 to Save Lives!
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