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SALT LAKE CITY -- Repeat DUI offender Stephen Randall Shaw was busted last month for drinking and driving. He should not have been behind the wheel and failed to have a device in his car that would have prevented him from doing so.
Right now, there's not much accountability for DUI offenders who are supposed to use the ignition interlock device, but a new law will soon change that.
In 2007, Shaw was sentenced to up to five years in prison for driving drunk and hitting a group of girls who were driving home from a soccer game. He served a little over a year before he was paroled in 2008.
On March 5, Shaw had an alcohol-restricted license when he was pulled over on a traffic stop near Stansbury Park. Court records say his blood-alcohol level was .109, well above the legal limit of .08.
Shaw was required to have an ignition interlock device, but he told the officer he didn't have one installed.
Officials at the Utah Driver License Division say they make a note of the restriction if a court orders someone to have an ignition interlock device. In that case, a parole officer could follow up. But if the person has completed parole, as Shaw had done, it would take a traffic stop for an officer to find out he or she didn't have one installed.
But a new law that goes into effect in July 2012 will give the Driver License Division greater oversight of the program. "They will be able to see on the electronic driver history that an individual is restricted," explained Kim Gibb, records bureau chief for the Utah Driver License Division.
That includes certifying and regulating all ignition interlock providers in the state. "They will be required to provide electronic notice when an individual has a device installed or removed, so we'll be notified instantly," Gibb said.
Gibb, who helped draft SB272, couldn't say whether the law would have kept someone like Shaw from getting behind the wheel. But she said there will be more accountability for restricted drivers.
"It'll probably be less likely people will drive with potential of not getting caught, hoping that they don't get caught," she said.
Under the new law, the driver license division would have the authority to suspend the license of someone who was required to have an ignition interlock device and didn't.
Email: syi@ksl.com
