A driver is shown using an ignition interlock device.WASHINGTON (AP/WBOC)- A federal safety board is recommending that all states require ignition interlock devices for convicted drunk drivers, including first-time offenders.
The five-member National Transportation Safety Board said the devices are currently the best available solution to reducing drunk driving deaths, which account for about a third of the nation's 32,000 traffic deaths each year.
In particular, the board cited a new study by its staff that found some 360 people a year are killed in wrong-way driving crashes on high-speed highways. The study concluded that 69 percent of wrong-way drivers had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit of .08.
Seventeen states already have laws requiring use of the device by all convicted drunk drivers.
To read the NTSB's report, including its recommendations, click here.
