We all know that drunk driving is against the law, but for some reason there are still many people in Connecticut who do it repeatedly. In effort to reduce the number of drunk drivers on the roads, lawmakers passed a law last year that requires even first-time drunk drivers to install ignition interlock devices on their vehicles.

These devices require drivers to pass a breathalyzer test before their vehicles will start. In the past, it was just repeat DUI offenders who had to install the devices on their vehicles, but the new law, which was signed by the governor last week and goes into effect July 2015, will expand the requirement to first-time offenders as well.

When signing the bill into law last week, Gov. Dannel Malloy pointed out that 40 percent of motor vehicle fatalities on Connecticut roads are due to drunk drivers, which is why it’s so important to prevent those with DUIs from re-offending.

Unfortunately, though, drunk driving accidents will continue to occur even after the new law is in effect because there will still be people who choose to drive drunk and even the ignition interlock devices aren’t completely fail-safe.

For example, in an upsetting case from earlier this summer, police say a young mother with the ignition interlock device on her vehicle drove drunk and caused a serious accident after having her two young children breath into the device for her.

When people choose to drive drunk and then cause serious accidents they face criminal charges but they can also face civil liability as well. The victims or the victims’ families are often entitled to damages from the drunk drivers or their insurance companies in personal injury lawsuits.

Source: WFSB.com, “CT expands law to combat drunk driving,” Kaitlyn Naples and Susan Raff, Aug. 11, 2014