Virginia Code 18.2-270.2: Ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device; certification by Commission on VASAP; regulations; sale or lease; monitoring use; reports
A. The Executive Director of the Commission on VASAP or his designee shall, pursuant to approval by the Commission, certify ignition interlock systems for use in the Commonwealth and adopt regulations and forms for the installation, maintenance and certification of such ignition interlock systems.
Attorney's Note
Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 misdemeanor | up to 12 months | up to $2,500 |
Terms Used In Virginia Code 18.2-270.2
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
The regulations adopted shall include requirements that ignition interlock systems:
1. Do not impede the safe operation of the vehicle;
2. Minimize opportunities to be bypassed, circumvented or tampered with, and provide evidence thereof;
3. Correlate accurately with established measures of blood alcohol content and be calibrated according to the manufacturer’s specifications;
4. Work accurately and reliably in an unsupervised environment;
5. Have the capability to provide an accurate written measure of blood alcohol content for each ignition, attempted ignition, and rolling retest, and record each attempt to circumvent or tamper with the equipment;
6. Minimize inconvenience to other users;
7. Be manufactured or distributed by an entity responsible for installation, user training, service, and maintenance, and meet the safety and operational requirements promulgated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration;
8. Operate reliably over the range of motor vehicle environments or motor vehicle manufacturing standards;
9. Be manufactured by an entity which is adequately insured against liability, in an amount established by the Commission, including product liability and installation and maintenance errors;
10. Provide for an electronic log of the driver’s experience with the system with an information management system capable of electronically delivering information to the agency supervising the interlock user within 24 hours of the collection of such information from the datalogger; and
11. Provide for a rolling retest of the operator’s blood alcohol content.
B. The Executive Director of the Commission on VASAP or his designee shall, pursuant to approval by the Commission, certify remote alcohol monitoring devices for use in the Commonwealth and adopt regulations and forms for the installation, maintenance, and certification of such remote alcohol monitoring devices.
C. Such regulations shall also provide for the establishment of a fund, using a percentage of fees received by the manufacturer or distributor providing ignition interlock services or remote alcohol monitoring devices, to afford persons found by the court to be indigent all or part of the costs of an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device.
D. The Commission shall design and adopt a warning label to be affixed to an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device upon installation. The warning label shall state that a person tampering with or attempting to circumvent the ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine or incarceration or both.
E. The Commission shall publish a list of certified ignition interlock systems and remote alcohol monitoring devices and shall ensure that such systems and devices are available throughout the Commonwealth. The local alcohol safety action program shall make the list available to eligible offenders, who shall have the responsibility and authority to choose which certified ignition interlock company and certified remote alcohol monitoring company will supply the offender’s equipment. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system or a remote alcohol monitoring device that seeks to sell or lease the ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device to persons subject to the provisions of § 18.2-270.1 shall pay the reasonable costs of obtaining the required certification, as set forth by the Commission.
F. A person may not sell or lease or offer to sell or lease an ignition interlock system or a remote alcohol monitoring device to any person subject to the provisions of § 18.2-270.1 unless:
1. The system or device has been certified by the Commission; and
2. The warning label adopted by the Commission is affixed to the system.
G. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device shall provide such services as may be required at no cost to the Commonwealth. Such services shall include a toll free, 24-hour telephone number for the users of ignition interlock systems or remote alcohol monitoring devices.