DUI Law Blog : DUI Lawyer & Attorney : Drunk Driving Defense & DWI News : Dan Jaffe

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Washington State has enacted a new law that allows DUI drivers to keep their license if they agree to install an ignition interlock device. Under the new law, people who refuse to take a breath test, and who would otherwise be subject to a mandatory one-year license revocation, may drive if they have a breath test machine installed in their vehicle.

This next week I intend to ask standout Washington State DUI lawyer Aaron Wolff his opinion on the new law.

At first glance, it appears that the law may take the teeth out of WA's implied consent law, which is designed to make it painful for a person to refuse to take a breath test.

When admissible into evidence, the breath test is certainly a DUI prosecutor's best weapon towards securing a conviction. It makes me wonder why anybody would ever submit to a breath test if arrested for DUI in Washington State.

Sure, a prosecutor may be able to argue that the refusal indicated a consciousness of guilt. However, it could also just indicate a healthy distrust of breath testing technology, which is flawed to begin with.

Washington State, to my knowledge, is the first state to use ignition interlock devices to defang DUI laws. States like New Mexico and Arizona, which have had ignition interlock device laws on the books for several years use them as an additional punitive or remedial measure, not as a way to decrease the impact of a conviction or license suspension.

I certainly applaud Washington State's approach to DUI defendants. They treat them less as criminals, and more as victims of disease or bad judgment. Although Washington State DUI lawyers may disagree with me on this point, one only has to look to Arizona DUI law to see the stark contrast.