Penalties for D-W-I are actually reducing participation Minnesota’s ignition interlock program, an expert told lawmakers at a State Capitol hearing this morning. Jody Oscarson with the Office of Traffic Safety points to a 680-dollar license reinstatement fee, plus a big jump in insurance rates for those with D-W-I convictions. She says, “People find that it’s cheaper because of the cost of becoming valid to drive illegally. It’s hard to get caught sometimes, unless you’re in a rural area.”
Oscarson says since the ignition interlock law passed in 2011 there have been over 135 thousand D-W-Is in the state, but only about 22-thousand have graduated from the program and about 10 thousand are currently enrolled.