Kathy A. Bolten

kbolten@dmreg.com

Drivers arrested or convicted of being impaired while behind the wheel in Iowa could be required to participate in a twice-daily sobriety monitoring program under identical study bills introduced in the Iowa House and Senate this week.

The proposed program, similar to ones in South Dakota and four other states, would require impaired-driving offenders to travel twice a day to a monitoring center for a breath test. Other testing such as remote monitoring and patches also could be used.

Offenders who pass the test can go about their daily routines. Those who fail would be jailed for up to 24 hours.

House Study Bill 109 and Senate Study Bill 1101, proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad's office, would also require participants in the sobriety monitoring program to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles.

Offenders, if they could afford it, would be required to pay for the monitoring and the interlock devices.

The proposed bill is aimed at repeat impaired driving offenders and first-time offenders whose blood alcohol concentration exceeded 0.15 percent and who caused an accident that injured someone or damaged property. The legal limit for intoxication in Iowa is 0.08 percent.

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Judges could order an offender to take part in the program as a condition of bond, pretrial release or sentencing. The Board of Parole also could require participation.

The program has been proposed by Iowa lawmakers at least twice before. In addition, a statewide coalition late last year included the sobriety program among its recommendations to curb impaired driving in Iowa.

"We really believe this will have a positive impact on cutting down impaired driving in the state," said Patrick Hoye, the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau chief, who organized the Iowa Impaired Driving Fatality Reduction Coalition.

Iowa officials are concerned about the rising number of traffic fatalities on the state's roads. In 2016, 403 people were killed in traffic accidents in Iowa, the highest since 2008. Public safety officials believe distracted and impaired driving are two causes for the increase.

In 2011, Iowa had 94 alcohol- or drug-related crash fatalities. That number grew to 119 in 2015, Department of Transportation data show.

In addition, 37 percent of Iowa crash fatalities in 2015 were caused by impaired drivers, up from 26 percent in 2011. Data for 2016 is not available.

The proposed legislation would also expand Iowa's homicide-by-vehicle statute to include the use of electronic devices while driving. Drivers who are using a device such as a cell phone and cause a fatality could face a felony charge that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Lawmakers are also considering other legislation that would strengthen Iowa's ban on texting while driving.

Gregary and Jan Franck of Ankeny support the proposed sobriety monitoring program and say if Iowa had it in place in 2015, their son would still be alive. Wade Franck, 41, was riding his bicycle along Grand Avenue in Des Moines when he was killed by a drunken driver.

The Francks were disappointed in 2016 when legislation failed to advance that would have created the sobriety program.

"This proposed bill takes into account what people didn't like a year ago," Gregary Franck said. "We're hopeful it will move forward and get passed."

The 2016 sobriety monitoring bill stalled in the House after Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa opposed it.

MADD prefers ignition interlock devices be required in the vehicles of all people convicted of drunken driving. The devices require drivers to blow into a tube to prove they are sober before they can start their vehicle.

Frank Harris, MADD's state government affairs director, said the group will ask lawmakers to amend the proposed bills to require interlocks be installed in all drunken driving offenders' vehicles. Iowa requires the devices for repeat offenders and some first-time offenders.

The bill "is a good start," Harris said. "In order to fully address the drunken driving epidemic, Iowa should enact an all-offender interlock law."

Harris said MADD would also like to see sanctions for offenders who fail an interlock breath test.

Currently in Iowa, after an ignition interlock is installed and offenders trigger a "lockout" from their vehicles because they have been drinking or using drugs, notifications rarely are sent to the transportation department, law enforcement or the judicial system, state officials said.

Hoye said he and others are looking at ways to address the issue through administrative changes.

Impaired driving is an issue that needs attention in Iowa, said Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone, and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which must approve the bill by the so-called March 3 funnel deadline.

"We've been trying to address this in the past few years without success," Baltimore said. "We're hopeful that we'll get something to the governor to sign this session."