New DUI law taking hold in the Valley

PALMER — A new crime showed up in Alaska State Trooper logs Tuesday — avoidance of an ignition interlock device.

According the trooper logs, Alicia M. Storie, 23, of Wasilla, was the first Valley resident to be charged with the crime this year. Storie was pulled over at the corner of Parks Highway and Palmer-Wasilla Highway at 2 a.m. Tuesday and issued a summons to appear in court for the offense.

Ignition interlock devices prevent a car from starting unless the driver blows less than a .02 blood alcohol content. State law says a driver is drunk at .08

A new law that took effect Jan. 1 requires convicted drunken drivers to have ignition interlock devices on any car they drive.

Over at the Palmer Police Department, Det. Sgt. Kelly Turney said charging a motorist with not having the device isn’t anything new.

In the past, some drunken drivers had been ordered to have the devices put in their car.

What’s new, he said, is the classification of the crime of avoiding the devices.

Thursday, Turney reviewed cases from as far back as 2007 in which the driver was charged with not having such a device. Back then, he said, it was just one of a category of offenses roped together under the title “driving in violation of a limited license.”

“It came up as a restriction just like corrective lenses or outside mirrors,” Turney said. “Some people are restricted to daytime only, some people are restricted to automatic transmissions.”

Now, there’s a section of Alaska Criminal Code — 11.76.140 — specifically titled Avoidance of Ignition Interlock Device. The code spells out that tampering with or circumventing the device while on probation is a crime, as is lending a car without the device to a person you know to be on probation.

The penalty is still the same — it’s a Class A Misdemeanor carrying up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Still, with the law in place and the offense separated out into its own classification, Turney said it will speed up police work. Police databases will more clearly show whether the person must have the device or not.

“The officer, if they do conduct a traffic stop, will be able to know right there on the side of road,” Turney said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.