MADD PUSHES FOR DUI REFORM LEGISLATION
Urges Legislature
to Protect Families by Requiring Interlocks for All Convicted Drunk
Drivers

WHAT: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) will hold
advocacy days on January 30 and 31, urging lawmakers to support HB 481,
requiring ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. HB 481, authored
by Speaker Gunn, is scheduled for a committee hearing on January 31, in the
House Judiciary Committee B.

WHEN: Lobby Day, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, January
30
Committee Hearing, 9:00 a.m., Thursday, January 31

WHERE: Mississippi State Capitol, Jackson, Miss.
The
January 31 House Judiciary B Committee Hearing, Mississippi State Capitol, Room
113

WHO: MADD volunteer and Gulfport Police Chief Alan
Weatherford
Frank Harris, MADD’s State Legislative Affairs Manager

WHY:  MADD urges the legislature to pass HB 481, which
requires the use of ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers.
Ignition interlock devices, or in-car breathalyzers, require convicted drunk
drivers to prove they are sober before their car will start. Last month, AAA and the
National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declared their support of requiring these
devices for all convicted drunk drivers. Currently, 17 states,
including Arkansas and Louisiana, require interlocks for all convicted drunk
drivers. The current interlock law in Mississippi is discretionary for repeat
offenders, one of the weakest drunk driving laws in the nation. 

MADD volunteer and Gulfport Police Chief Alan Weatherford recently sent this
letter of support for HB 481: http://www.madd.org/local-offices/ms/documents/MS_2013-0129-HB-481.pdf

For more information on ignition interlocks, please visit: http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/ignition-interlocks/