New Arizona DUI Laws

A lot of places have been talking about implementing alcohol ignition interlock devices in vehicles for quite some time. It has been quite common talk this year, and now there will be some new Arizona DUI laws. Arizona has signed a new law that requires the ignition interlock devices to be installed on people convicted of drunk driving.

The IID requires the driver to blow into the device to test for the presence of alcohol. It is located in the vehicle and will not start the car without its use. These devices also monitor how many times the driver has attempted to start the vehicle while intoxicated. So if you have been drinking at the bar and try to start it by blowing into the IID, it will record that you have tried to drive while under the influence.

May 18th, the Governor Janet Napolitano signed the new Arizona DUI law that now requires all DUI offenders to install the IID in their vehicles for at least one year after regaining their driving privileges. Before this new DUI law was signed, only repeat offenders were required to install the device in their vehicle.

This new Arizona DUI law has a provision that says the defendant must spend 45 days of consecutive jail time for first-time DUI offenders with a BAC of .20 percent or higher. Current DUI law in Arizona says you must spend 30 consecutive days of jail for a first time DUI offender. However, a judge can suspend all but 10 of those days.

Before the law was signed by Governor Napolitano, the Arizona House and Senate approved this bill with impressive numbers.