When it comes to drinking and driving, there are good ideas and bad ideas. It’s a good idea to appoint a designated driver if you’re planning on drinking during your night out, and it’s also a good idea to call a cab if you can’t find a sober drive. Bad ideas include deciding to get behind the wheel after drinking, even it’s just one drink. That one bad idea can lead to penalties like jail time, fines, and an ignition interlock program for a year or more.
But after some people have been convicted of drinking and driving, the bad ideas don’t end there. Some people drive anyway when their drivers license is suspended, or they ask a friend to blow into their ignition interlock device to start their vehicle after they have been drinking.
Maybe they don’t know what will happen if they ask a friend to help them attempt to cheat their ignition interlock, but if you have an interlock device and you’ve thought about it, it’s a good idea to know the penalties.
In some states, asking a friend to blow into your ignition interlock device to start your vehicle or during a rolling retest is considered tampering with your device, and there are severe penalties for any offender who tries this. You could lose your restricted drivers license and be required to start your drivers license suspension over again, you may be required to extend the time you’re required to have your ignition interlock device, or you might be sent to jail.
An ignition interlock device is small and modest in appearance but inside they are loaded with anti-tampering technology that is impossible to circumvent. Many include micro-camera technology that records who is providing a test to the device. Many have GPS technology to record exactly where a test was taken. All ignition interlocks require random retesting when the vehicle is running. Interlocks have to be dependable because they are regulated by state and federal governments and are heavily relied upon as the front line tool to combat drunk driving.
It’s one thing to make the mistake of drinking and driving, and for some offenders it’s a mistake they will only make one time and one time only. The worst thing you can do is to violate your court or administrative order and get caught trying to cheat. You will find society views you differently when you transition from being someone who made a mistake to a criminal repeat offender.