Kansas Ignition Interlock Law: First Year Results

The new Kansas Ignition Interlock Law that began July 1, 2011 has now been on the books for a year. Now that the smoke has settled on the new legislation many want to know whether the two years of DUI Commission study and hard-fought debates over the law were worth it. I believe the verdict is in, and a very positive one.

While there is no way to predict the future, experiences that other states around the country can be a very good predictor, as well as statistics from other Ignition Interlock programs. Kansas is also now showing the same glowing results of having Ignition Interlock devices on ALL Kansas DUI’s.

Kansas has averaged 116 alcohol related fatalities per year between 2000 – 2010. Kansas has had 125 and 137 respectively over the last two years. This left us plenty of room for improvement as we were one of the worst states in terms of increased alcohol related fatalities. But that has turned around in the correct direction now. We are on the right track.

During the first full year of the new Kansas Ignition Interlock law Kansas saw a much lower total of 59 alcohol related fatalities. This is decrease over the previous year of 56%. This is a decrease over the 2000 – 2010 average of 49%. This is a remarkable decrease during year one of the new legislation. This may be one of the most dramatic decreases that have been seen yet with Ignition Interlock laws around the country.

Although this is preliminary data from the Kansas Department of Transportation they do not expect these numbers to change much, if any. Thanks to all the hard work of the DUI Commission, House and Senate members, MADD, KIIA and all other active parties involved in making this piece of legislation happen. There are approximately 75 families that did not have to suffer losing a loved one this year because of the hard work that you have done.

Thanks to Lawrence Journal World for the charts in the post.