DUI Breath Interlock Devices Frequently Malfunction

Chicago - If you're arrested for drunk driving, and you want to keep driving until your day in court, you can do it with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device, or BAIID.

If you blow just a small amount of alcohol, your car won't start. And once you're driving, you have to blow, every 10 or 15 minutes.

"They can't drive drunk with this system," said Dave Druker, spokesman for the Secretary of State's office.

When the program began last year, the state expected more than 30,000 DUI defendants would use the devices, but we've learned less than 10,000 drivers are actually using them.

DUI defense attorneys say it's because the systems malfuction so often, drivers would rather risk driving without them than put up with all the headaches.

"What was intended to be a boon has become a boondoggle," defense attorney Donald Ramsell said.

For starters, the devices sometimes pick up alcohol when nobody's been drinking.

"We found pizza crust from certain locations tends to put a reading on a device more so than others," alcohol testing consultant Dr. Ron Henson said.

That's right. A bite of pizza just before blowing can set off the device. Wonder Bread, hot dog buns and sourdough english muffins can do it too, if drivers don't wait the suggested 15 minutes before testing.

"It appears to be enriched white bread, specifically," said Henson. "When we do a test in a lab with wheat breads, we don't seem to get the influences.

The pizzas that seem to trigger the devices most often, based on complaints from DUI offenders, are pizzas from Casey's General Stores. Experts say it might have something do with the amount of yeast in the crust.

"You look at the baked products, you're going to have yeast and sugar," said Henson. "And when you are chewing in your mouth, the question is, is there a small amount of alchohol being formulated?"

Cough medicines, oral pain relievers, and mouthwashes can set the system off, too.

"I washed with Listerine, and I blew like a couple minutes later into into my device, and it went off on me, wouldn't let me start it," said Leslie Whittington, who used a BAIID for a year.

Another DUI defendant showed us how after rinsing with mouthwash, the device detected alcohol.

Some of the devices don't work in cold weather. One driver we talked with had to get three new devices in the last three months. And sometimes he can't start his car, because the device registers "non-human breath."

"I have to explain to my daughter what it says, and how do you explain `non-human' breath," he said.

Defense attorney Ramsell said BAIID is a problem for clients who are trying to move on with their lives.

"You have your typical salesman, who needs to drive his car. He gets the device installed. He's eating his Big Mac in the car and the device has to be blown into every 15, 20, maybe 30 minutes. He gets a false positive, and the next thing you know he gets a notice in the mail that he's lost their license for another three months!"

Secretary of State Jesse White's office administers the BAIID program. "We feel its working well but we do have some changes that we think are going to improve the system as well," said Secretary of State spokesman Druker.

The Secretary of State admits the BAIID program has been used much less than expected. Pending legislation could make it harder for drivers to opt out. And as for malfunctioning devices, the state admits there are problems with cold weather and some foods.

But there's not a lot of sympathy for the drivers who are complaining.

"You've got to remember that the people who have to wait the extra 5 to 10 minutes have put themselves into this positon by the problems that they caused by drinking and driving," said Druker.