Missed this one in the Morning News: New DUI Law Allows Suspects to Stay Licensed

Suspected drunken drivers will have a chance to quickly regain their driving privileges under a new state law aimed at reducing the number of people who drive with a suspended license.

Under the ignition-interlock law that goes into effect Thursday, motorists arrested for drunken driving can apply for a special driver's license that will give them full driving privileges as long as they have an ignition-interlock device installed in their car, said state Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, who sponsored the bill in the Legislature.

The length of time that an interlock device must stay in an offender's car varies from one year for first-time offenders to 10 years for anyone convicted of three or more DUIs.

The premises of this law:

1) Interlock devices are foolproof.

2) Driving drunk is a less serious crime than driving without a license.

3) The right to drive is a human right; as such, even multiple DUIs can't justify taking it away.