CHEYENNE - Doris Cook of Cheyenne keeps track of the police blotters published in the local newspaper.

She doesn't like seeing all the arrests for drunken driving, driving with a suspended license and no insurance.

Cook, who said she was representing herself Monday as a citizen, spoke in favor of Senate File 88 to require people convicted of drunken driving to install ignition interlock devices on their motor vehicles.

"This has to be done," the petite, gray-haired woman said.

The Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee subsequently voted 5-0 in favor of the bill.

Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper, the co-sponsor of the bill along with Rep. Debbie Hammons, D-Worland, said the mandatory devices have been shown to be effective in achieving results in the battle against drunk drivers in seven or eight other states.

Senate File 88 is modeled after the law in New Mexico, where it resulted in a 35 percent decline in driving under the influence arrests. Initially the New Mexico Legislature required the devices beginning with the second DUI offense. The lawmakers came back two years ago and applied it to first offenders as well, Perkins said.

Hammons said states that mandate the devices generally can expect a 50 to 80 percent decrease in DUI cases.

"Every community in the state has problems with drunken driving," Hammons said. "This is an aggressive step to do something about it."

For first offenders the bill requires the ignition devices for one year if they register a blood alcohol level of .15 percent.

The current legal limit is .08 percent.

The average blood alcohol level of arrested drunk drivers is .16 percent, said Byron Oedekoven, representing the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, who are supporting the proposal.

For a second conviction, the offenders would have to operate only vehicles equipped with an ignition interlock device for two years. For a third conviction, the duration of the mandate would be three years. For a fourth or subsequent conviction, the offender must use the device for life although he or she can apply to the court for removal of the mandate every five years.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation administers a voluntary program for DUI offenders.

Tom Loftin, administrator of driver services for the department, said 512 people convicted of DUI are in the voluntary ignition control program.

If the mandatory program had been in effect in 2008, a total of 3,398 people would qualify for the devices.

The devices cost $70 per month after a $100 to $110 installation fee, Loftin said.

The bill allocates $150,000 to provide the devices for DUI defendants who are indigents.

Gene Rugotzke, representing Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Triple A, supported the bill and described how the devices work.

Rugotzke, a retired 30-year state employee who supervised alcohol testing and trained law enforcement personnel, said if a system detects the driver has been drinking through a breath test, the device will warn the driver to take another test.

This gives the driver time to pull over and stop.

The device will not stop the car. But if the driver keeps on moving, the device starts the horn honking and the head lights flashing to alert law enforcement officials.

"It's sort of like having a parole agent in the passenger seat," Rugotzke said.

Because of the $150,000 allocation, the bill next goes to the Joint Appropriations Committee, then on to the floor of the Senate for debate.

Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at (307) 632-1244 or joan.barron@trib.com