The Interlock Device Program in Ontario

Ontario came in second place for their Ignition Interlock Device program with a C+. This is a very good sign that this province is implementing the program successfully enough.

MADD has some high technical specifications to which they hope every province would adhere to. Ontario has achieved all of the MADD standards. The device is made so that the offender will not be able to start his car if the device registers a BAC of over .02%. The only improvement that the raters noticed could be made to the device is a better safeguard to make sure that the device cannot be bypassed.

The province of Ontario has been reprimanded on the fact that the Ignition Interlock Device is not yet mandatory. The province doesn’t seem to enforce the program enough and that seems to be one of the only problems with the program in Ontario. There seems to be a lack of follow-up with the participants once they get the device installed. But if the offenders are found to be violating the program, there are sanctions put on them.

The cops in Ontario are trained so that they can check if the Ignition Interlock Device is functioning appropriately, and that is a very good thing. Although their power and authority are limited when it comes to impounding and immobilizing vehicles, they can still check the devices when they find them.

^{Source: http://madd.ca/english/research/interlock2008.pdf}