By ANGELA DELLI SANTI Associated Press Writer
January 30, 2005, 11:07 AM EST TRENTON, N.J. -- A revision in the state's already-strict drunken driving laws would make motorists convicted of even a single DWI prove their sobriety every time they get behind the wheel.

A measure requiring first-time drunken drivers to install pricey ignition locks on their vehicles advanced last week and will next be taken up by the full Senate. The Assembly is considering a similar bill. If the measure becomes law, drunken drivers would be slapped with another punishment in addition to the fines, fees, surcharges, license suspension, community service, and alcohol screening already imposed.

They would be required to have a Breathalyzer-like device on every car they drive as long as their license is suspended, and for up to three years after that, based on the discretion of sentencing judge. The devices have been required for repeat offenders and optional for first-time offenders since 2001.

"Drunken driving is a serious problem. Statistics indicate that up to 80 percent of people who have a suspended license still drive, and the recidivism rate is over 30 percent," said Sen. Joseph Doria, D-Hudson, a co-sponsor of the legislation.

William H. Buckman, a Moorestown lawyer specializing in criminal and civil rights cases, is among those taking issue with imposing an extended penalty on drunken drivers. "There is the potential for legal challenges," Buckman said. "If they do take this tact, there's an argument to be made it is penalizing the defendant longer than the suspension period. You are talking, in essence, about a long period of probation."

The devices require breath samples from drivers, and lock out those who have been drinking by preventing the vehicle from starting. The machines are equipped with safeguards to assure that someone other than the driver doesn't blow into the machine on the driver's behalf. Because ignition interlock devices are on-board computers, they can be programmed to require a breath sample at specified intervals while the vehicle is in motion, or to make a driver's horn blow if a breath sample isn't given on time.

"You can set a machine so it will only work between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., which will give you time to go to work, and between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., which gives you time to go home," said Dr. Lance Gooberman, a consultant for Interlock Device of New Jersey, one of three companies authorized by the state to provide the machines. "We can set it so your kid can't drive drunk and so he has to be home at curfew."

Doria said the technology also addresses the problem of how drivers with a DWI conviction get back and forth to work if they do not live or work near public transportation, but the bill contains no language spelling out conditions for granting provisional driver's licenses.

Interlock charges $100 to install an ignition lock device, $75 per month to rent it, and $129 for monitoring and recalibrating it, a service required every two months, according to the company's price list posted on its Web site.

Some 3,764 New Jersey motorists convicted of drunken driving have been ordered to install ignition locks since 2001, including 1,214 drivers required to do so last year, said Motor Vehicle Commission spokesman David Weinstein. Drivers who refuse to install them face additional time on the revoked list. The MVC requires proof of installation when a driver applies for restoration of driving privileges, Weinstein said, but does not follow up after that.

"The concern we have is if interlocks are mandatory, who is monitoring that and how often, and who is funding that monitoring?" asked Teresa Stevens, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "MADD does support the use of ignition devices, but we have concerns."