Latest news with #IgnitionInterlockDevice
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Ignition Interlock Device might have saved 10-year-old's life
Regarding ' Father charged with murder after 10-year-old son dies in Wine Country crash ' (Bay Area/Crime, July 23), what a shameful and sad article I woke up to the other day. A man, who had already been convicted of 2 DUIs, was allowed by the state to go out and kill his child. That's right. The state of California felt that a person with 2 DUIs should be allowed to continue driving. His child would still be alive today if California made it mandatory that this individual had a Ignition Interlock Device (IDD) installed on his vehicle. The state does force some people with DUIs to install them but apparently not in this case. My other big problem is why doesn't the state make it mandatory that every car have one? As many as 1,069 people die each year in California each year because of DUI drivers. The cost to install an IDD would be about $400. Seems like such a small amount of money to save so many innocent lives. So, again, why have our political leaders done nothing to solve this problem? One answer could be the amount of money the state takes in on DUI convictions. I wish I could tell you how much but apparently the state doesn't report how much that is but since there are about 96,000 DUI arrests per year at say $5,000 per conviction (and this I'm sure is a low estimate) that's a half a billion in revenue. So shameful and sad. Roger Lema, Castro Valley Regarding 'Reports: Palestinian activist previously detained at SFO killed in West Bank' (Bay Area/San Francisco, July 28), I never got to meet Awdah Hathaleen. The nonviolent Palestinian teacher, father and filmmaker was murdered last week by an Israeli colonizer while protecting his home from destruction by Jewish 'settlers.' I had wanted to see him. I bought tickets in June and waited to hear him at an event in Oakland, but the Trump administration wouldn't let him speak. He was held at SFO for over 24 hours, then called a 'security risk' and was returned to Palestine. Despite undisputed video of the alleged killer's shooting at Palestinians, he was released after a day and will probably face no charges. How striking that America and Israel collude to frame nonviolent Palestinians as terrorists. They deny us the right to hear their voices. They kill them when they try to defend their land. I beg readers to call Congress and the White House and demand we stop arming and funding Israel's mass slaughter in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Tell your friends to speak out, too. David Spero, San Francisco Unreal responses A liberal from Danville supports Smith's ask to billionaires without challenging the nearly total loss of governmental authority over the privatized concentrated power of our nation's social wealth. A conservative from Clovis absurdly calls Smith's ideas socialist, though she doesn't even call for enforcing existing capitalism's tax rates on the wealthy and corporations (which most avoid). A third writer from Livermore finds that taxes are only wasted or sequestered by bureaucrats, so why even bother with having government (even though, for example, the 'bureaucratic' cost of running Medicare is about 2% while that of running private health insurance is upwards of 20%). While we're on wishful thinking, each of these writers, including Sarah Smith, might sit down and read the Open Forum ' Why Murdoch will cave to Trump ' on the same page above the letters. The realities in Aron Solomon's piece reveal the unreality of each of these letters. Marc Sapir, Berkeley Regarding ' S.F. may soon ban natural gas in homes and businesses undergoing major renovations ' (Bay Area/San Francisco, July 26), transitioning San Francisco away from natural gas towards electrified heating is a critical step in bringing our city into 2025 in terms of climate policy. Though cutting red tape is important and extremely in vogue in the Democratic Party, this is an instance where a little red tape can save a lot of greenhouse gases.
Motor 1
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
‘The Things We Would Do for Discount Tire:' Customer Drops Their Car Off at Discount Tire. They Didn't Mention the Breathalyzer
Two Discount Tire employees recently revealed the unexpected hoops they sometimes jump through to help customers. Creator @wubfactor , a Discount Tire worker, says a customer dropped off a car for service without mentioning it has a breathalyzer installed. That left the employees scrambling to figure out how to start it. Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . 'When a customer drops off their car for service and leaves without mentioning the blow n go,' @wubfactor wrote in the text overlay of a TikTok about the experience. In the 21-second video, @wubfactor and a coworker are shown trying and failing to get the breathalyzer to work so they can move the vehicle into the shop. 'The things we would do for Discount Tire,' @wubfactor adds in the caption. As of this writing, the post had racked up more than 140,000 views. Why Do Some Cars Have Breathalyzers? Trending Now 'Proof:' Arizona Man Goes to Discount Tire to See If They Really Road Force Balance Tires. Then He Catches a Worker in the Act 'It Saved Me Money:' Woman Goes to Discount Tire for New Tires. Then She Pulls Out Her Costco Card In most states, drivers are legally required to install breathalyzers—known as Ignition Interlock Devices (IID)—in their vehicles after a driving under the influence conviction. These devices are designed to stop someone from driving impaired by requiring a clean breath sample before the car will start. IIDs work by hooking into a car's ignition system. If the driver's blood alcohol content is above a certain threshold, the vehicle won't start. Courts often mandate them after a DUI to reduce repeat offenses and improve safety on the roads. But IIDs aren't just for DUI offenders anymore. There have been efforts to make this kind of alcohol-detection technology standard in all new vehicles. Still, there are concerns . What happens if a car stalls in traffic? Or if a driver has a health condition, like asthma, that affects how the device reads their breath? There's also the risk of people trying to game the system, either by having someone else blow into the device or tampering with it entirely. Even so, IIDs are quickly becoming a central part of the national strategy to prevent drunk driving. Viewers Applaud Workers—But Say They're Doing Too Much While many viewers praised @wubfactor's dedication, others pointed out that there are safer and cleaner ways to handle cars equipped with breathalyzers. 'Call Intoxalock and they should be able to give you bypass instructions,' one commenter advised. 'You will need to call from the shop landline and reverse the bypass when you are done. If you blow incorrectly, you could put the customer in [lockup] and cost yourself $50–$100.' Another added, 'Call the company number and they'll give you a code that lasts for however long it's in the shop.' 'There's the phone number on the back of this device,' a third echoed. 'You call them, they will help you bypass this process.' Some viewers were baffled that a customer would drop off their car without mentioning the breathalyzer at all, let alone expect mechanics to deal with it. 'That is not worth 10 dollars an hour,' one person wrote. 'I wouldn't make a mechanic deal with it, nor would I trust anyone else,' another said. 'Lots of things can give a false reading, such as mouthwash, food, etc.' A few viewers also questioned the hygiene of the whole situation, noting that trying to use a customer's mouthpiece might be a step too far. 'You have no idea what kind of STDs they might have, [I] would never touch lips unless I'm dating someone,' one person commented. 'I would not blow on somebody else's mouthpiece,' said another. 'I'm not putting my mouth on somebody else's tube,' a third chimed in. Motor1 has reached out to @wubfactor via TikTok direct message. We'll be sure to update this if he responds. More From Motor1 BMW Drivers Have the Most DUIs In America's Largest Cities: Study The Real Cost Of A DUI In The Five Largest U.S. States 'They Have About 70% Tread Life Left:' Man Buys Tires Off Facebook Marketplace. Then He Takes Them to Discount Tire 'Don't Feel Comfortable Allowing You:' Colorado Woman Tells Discount Tire She Can't Afford Tires. Their Reply Is Shocking Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
