Massachusetts DUI Law : Mass Lawyer & Attorney for Drunk Driving Arrests in Boston, Worcester, Framingham

The State of New York has recently passed a tough new DUI Law entitled Leandra’s Law. This will mandate the use of the breath alcohol ignition interlock device for all New York DUI offenders, unless a judge makes specific findings that the DUI offender has no prior record of alcoholism. In Massachusetts, Senate Bill 1925 will dramatically strengthen Melanie's Law by requiring Massachusetts DUI first offenders to use the device as well. However, there will be no exceptions to the mandatory interlock requirement here.

In addition to requiring the use of the interlock device, Leandra’s Law increase the DUI penalties for commiting a DUI with a child passenger in the vehicle, and DUI while causing injury to a child passenger. Massachusetts already has laws which severely punish those who commit these offenses.

Leandra’s Law has been touted as one of the toughest DUI laws in the country. However, our Legislature may increase Massachusetts DUI penalties with the enactment of DUI laws which are being considered at the Statehouse. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

I am writing to dispel some myths and misconceptions regarding Melanie's Law, St. 2005, c. 122, which was an act to increase the penalties for drunk drivers in Massachusetts, which was passed and approved on October 28, 2005.

Melanie's law substantially increased the penalties for refusing the breathalyzer and operating under the influence in Massachusetts. It also implemented strict requirements regarding the use of ignition interlock devices for second and subsequent DUI offenders. Under Melanie's Law, there is a lifetime look back period when counting prior offenses.

Many believe that Melanie's Law is unconstitutional because it is "ex post facto." Individuals suffering with long license suspensions and revocations, and those forced to use the ignition interlock device, have expressed a desire to challenge the law on constitutional grounds. Others hope that the Legislature will amend the law to soften its impact. The reality is neither the law makers nor the courts are going to, in any way, water down Melanie's Law. In fact, there is legislation pending to make Melanie's Law even tougher. Indeed, Massachusetts DUI laws are very likely to get more stringent in the future.

In the recent case of Joseph Gordon v. Registry of Motor Vehicles, Gordon challenged the Registry's requirement that he use an ignition interlock device. He based his challenge on the fact that the interlock requirement, which was triggered by two DUI convictions which pre-dated Melanie's Law by several years, violated his constitutional right to be free from "ex post facto" laws. The Massachusetts Appeals Court determined that holding a driver's license is a privilege and not a right. It further determined that Melanie's Law was constitutional and not an "ex post facto law."

The Registry can legally go back into your record for your entire lifetime to find old DUI convictions, to determine the length of a driver's OUI license suspension. It also can use those old OUI convictions to require any repeat OUI offender who is reinstating his or her license, as a result of OUI suspension, on or after January 1, 2006, to use the ignition interlock device during the term of any hardship license and for 2 years after getting a full license. These requirements have been judicially determined to be constitutional and enforceable.

If you have questions regarding how Melanie's Law applies to your particular situation, please contact me for a free consultation and review if your case. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Many Massachusetts license holders contact me after the Mass. RMV has informed them that they will need to use a certified breath alcohol ignition interlock device in any vehicle which the own, lease , or drive. This requirement must remain in place during any Massachusetts hardship license and for 2 years after the driver gets the restricted hours removed from his or her license. Not a week goes by where someone does not question whether, in their particular situation, the use of an ignition interlock device is really required.

In this post, I will explain the Registry's Ignition Interlock requirement.

Breath alcohol ignition interlock devices are lockout devices which prevent a vehicle from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol registers above .02. To insure that the driver did not have someone else blow into his or her device, the interlock device requires drivers to provide breath samples at random intervals while the vehicle is being driven.

Ignition interlock devices are required, by Melanie’s Law, to be used by anyone with 2 or more OUI convictions or alcohol program assignments on his or her record who is reinstating a license or coming off of a hardship license after January 1, 2006. In the vast majority of cases, if the Registry of Motor Vehicles states that a driver is interlock-required, there is no way to get around the requirement. Neither the Mass. RMV nor the Board of Appeal will “bend the law” or make exceptions. If you are legally required to have the interlock device, there is no way around it.

Both the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Board of Appeal view the ignition interlock device as an effective tool which protects the public by physically prohibiting someone who has consumed alcohol from driving. Neither agency has any interest in excusing people from using what its proponents tout as a lifesaving device. In fact, there is legislation pending at the Massachusetts Statehouse which would toughen Melanie’s Law by requiring even first offenders to use the ignition interlock device. It is likely that this legislation will pass. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Under Melanie’s Law, all second or subsequent DUI offenders are required to have an approved ignition interlock device installed in any vehicle which the DUI offender owns, operates, or leases. This requirement applies to DUI suspensions which were imposed on or after January 1, 2006, the effective date of the ignition interlock provision of Melanie’s Law. Interlock devices produced by Consumer Safety Technology (CST), Draeger, Guardian, LifeSafer Interlock, Sens-O-Lock, and Smart Start.

Interlock is required for any hardship or full license issued as a result of a second or subsequent DUI offense. Ignition interlock required drivers must have the device installed for the entire term of any hardship license and for a two year period after getting a full license reinstatement.

The ignition interlock installation is a multi-step process which begins with obtaining clearance to drive, either with a Massachusetts hardship or full license. This clearance is obtained by going to a hearing, either at the Registry of Motor Vehicles or Board of Appeal. Once the driver is approved for either a hardship or full license, the driver must go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to begin the ignition interlock installation procedure. This process begins by meeting with a Registry Hearing Officer who will review the driver’s record and confirm that he or she is eligible for either a full license reinstatement or a hardship license.

Once the Registry Hearings Officer confirms eligibility, he or she will give the driver an “ignition interlock package.” This package contains forms and affidavits which must be signed in the presence of a notary public. Also included in this package is a list of approved ignition interlock instillation locations. The driver should select an ignition interlock vendor and bring his or her vehicle to the installation location so that the device can be installed. While the device is being installed, the user will receive training on how to operate the device.

Once installation is complete, the driver should bring proof of installation to a Registry of Motor Vehicles hearing officer. The hearing officer will then issue the driver a license with a Z (ignition interlock) restriction. The driver can now legally drive his or her interlock equipped motor vehicle.

In cases where the driver does not own a vehicle and/or needs to get insurance, he or she should have the vehicle towed to the installation facility or driven there with a general registration plate, such a dealer plate. The driver would then have the device installed, get his or her license reinstated by showing proof of installation to a RMV hearing officer, go to his or her insurance company with the RMV-1 form, show the insurance agent that he or she is now licensed, get the RMV-1 form stamped by the insurance company, go back to the RMV and get the vehicle registered, and finally return to the ignition interlock facility and put the new plates on the vehicle.

Interlock required drivers who live out of state can have the device removed, or not installed, so long as they prove out of state residency and sign an affidavit stating that they live out of state and will not drive in Massachusetts without the ignition interlock device.

For interlock-required drivers who live in Massachusetts, there are no absolutely exceptions or ways to avoid the ignition interlock device. If a driver is legally interlock required, he or she must have the device for a minimum of 2 years. If there are violations, the Registry will extend the interlock requirement for a minimum of 6 months.

Interlock required drivers must have the device inspected, maintained, and monitored monthly. If the results of the monthly monitoring show certain alcohol readings, the driver will be called into the Registry of Motor Vehicles for an interlock violation hearing, which could result in a 10 year or lifetime license suspension. If you are facing an ignition interlock violation, please contact me. I have an outstanding track record in the area of interlock violation appeals and I have proven that the ignition interlock device is unreliable and registers false positive readings.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

The family of Melanie J. Powell, the teenager who was killed by a drunk driver, has been lobbying intensely at the statehouse for the passage of Senate Bill 1925, which would strengthen Melanie’s Law by requiring the OUI First Offenders to use the Ignition Interlock Device.

The Ignition Interlock Device is a breath testing device which is installed in DUI offenders’ vehicles to prevent the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath. Ignition interlock readings are reported back to the Registry of Motor Vehicles and interlock violations can result in 10 year or lifetime license revocations.

Under the current version of Melanie’s Law, ignition interlock devices are required for second or subsequent drunk driving offenders. The new law would expand the requirement to those convicted of a first offense OUI so that first offenders would be required to use the ignition interlock device for the entire term of any DUI hardship license and for six months after getting a full license.

A hearing was recently held at the Statehouse regarding the proposed legislation. Senator Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican introduced the Bill and Senator Steven A. Baddour, D-Methuen co-sponsored the bill. It is predicted that the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will recommend that the bill ought to pass and send it to the full Senate for a vote. It will then go to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for consideration.

If the bill passes, Massachusetts will join 11 other states which require all DUI offenders to use the ignition interlock device.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks