Interlock Question

[lkepuska]

I live in NH but had my license suspended in Florida due to a DUI conviction August 2015. I completed my probation successfully in September of 2016. I had an interlock system installed in my vehicle April 2016. Since I had the system I went into a lock-out twice- once was latent alcohol from drinking slightly fermented orange juice, and I recently went into another lock-out again the the morning due to having drank the night before. I am not on probation- nor have any reporting other than the interlock reporting that does to the DMV. My question is can my license be suspended or my interlock requirement be extended again for interlock violations even if I am not on probation and technically am not committing any crimes as the legal limit is .08 and the interlock is set at .025?

 

[quincy]

I live in NH but had my license suspended in Florida due to a DUI conviction August 2015. I completed my probation successfully in September of 2016. I had an interlock system installed in my vehicle April 2016. Since I had the system I went into a lock-out twice- once was latent alcohol from drinking slightly fermented orange juice, and I recently went into another lock-out again the the morning due to having drank the night before. I am not on probation- nor have any reporting other than the interlock reporting that does to the DMV. My question is can my license be suspended or my interlock requirement be extended again for interlock violations even if I am not on probation and technically am not committing any crimes as the legal limit is .08 and the interlock is set at .025?

When you have lockouts, these are reported by the Interlock Service Provider to your state's motor vehicle department. You generally need to bring your vehicle into the service provider for testing within X amount of time (time varies) or the service provider can permanently lock your vehicle's ignition and only the service provider can release the lock.

In some states, any initial start violation can result in a license suspension. If you have a permanent lockout by the service provider and a license suspension by the state, you can request a hearing to restore your license.

Because you are no longer on probation, the lockouts do not affect probation but affect your driver license.

There is a newer member of this forum who seems to know a lot about Interlock systems. I imagine you will hear from him later.

 

[GuyInNC]

When you have lockouts, these are reported by the Interlock Service Provider to your state's motor vehicle department. You generally need to bring your vehicle into the service provider for testing within X amount of time (time varies) or the service provider can permanently lock your vehicle's ignition and only the service provider can release the lock.

In some states, any initial start violation can result in a license suspension. If you have a permanent lockout by the service provider and a license suspension by the state, you can request a hearing to restore your license.

Because you are no longer on probation, the lockouts do not affect probation but affect your driver license.

There is a newer member of this forum who seems to know a lot about Interlock systems. I imagine you will hear from him later.

Quincy pretty much nailed it here. It varies from state to state. Some states explicitly allow a failure or two for some Initial Start Violations (and in some cases additional violations are automatic extensions of your IID time). Other states (like NC) pass judgment on every violation but they will not share any information about what is and is not acceptable. And some states are quite strict about this stuff. And the state of Mass. just this year changed their procedures for Initial Start Violations so that the most likely outcome is a hearing that you would have to attend.

I would start with the relevant DMV authority and try to get "as deep as you can" into their system. The person that first takes your call probably won't have the level of knowledge needed here. Or it can be like NC where you can actually get to the person involved in the process and learn nothing but "if we want to know more we'll let you know and if we decide to take action we'll let you know".

I would strongly encourage anyone who has one of these devices to get a companion testing device (typically available from the IID manufacturer) so you can "screen yourself" before actually using the device. Even if you are not drinking at all there are just too many ways to get a 100% sober positive result.

Good luck.