Tougher DUI Law Goes Into Effect In Oklahoma

NewsOn6.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A tougher DUI law goes into effect Monday. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol launched a public service campaign to tell people about it.

Anyone with a onetime DUI, who blows a .15, must have an interlock device in their car for 18 months. For a second offense, if they just blow the legal limit of .08, they'll have to have the device for four years.

Legislators hope it's a costly and inconvenient deterrent.

"You have to blow into it to start the car and periodically while you're driving, you still have to blow in it to prove you're not drinking while driving," said Officer Craig Murray, Tulsa Police Department.

Offenders must pay for the device, not taxpayers. The CDC says interlocks have decreased repeat drunk driving offenses by nearly 70 percent.