18.2-270.2 - Ignition interlock system; certification by Commission on VASAP; regulations; sale or lease; monitoring use; reports. - Virginia Statutes

§ 18.2-270.2. Ignition interlock system; certification by Commission onVASAP; 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 systemsfor use in this Commonwealth and adopt regulations and forms for theinstallation, maintenance and certification of such ignition interlocksystems.

The regulations adopted shall include requirements that ignition interlocksystems:

1. Do not impede the safe operation of the vehicle;

2. Minimize opportunities to be bypassed, circumvented or tampered with, andprovide evidence thereof;

3. Correlate accurately with established measures of blood alcohol contentand 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 bloodalcohol 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 operationalrequirements promulgated by the National Highway Transportation SafetyAdministration;

8. Operate reliably over the range of motor vehicle environments or motorvehicle manufacturing standards;

9. Be manufactured by an entity which is adequately insured againstliability, in an amount established by the Commission, including productliability and installation and maintenance errors;

10. Provide for an electronic log of the driver's experience with the systemwith an information management system capable of electronically deliveringinformation to the agency supervising the interlock user within twenty-fourhours of the collection of such information from the datalogger; and

11. Provide for a rolling retest of the operator's blood alcohol content.

Such regulations shall also provide for the establishment of a fund, using apercentage of fees received by the manufacturer or distributor providingignition interlock services, to afford persons found by the court to beindigent all or part of the costs of an ignition interlock system.

The Commission shall design and adopt a warning label to be affixed to anignition interlock system upon installation. The warning label shall statethat a person tampering with, or attempting to circumvent the ignitioninterlock system shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and, uponconviction, shall be subject to a fine or incarceration or both.

The Commission shall publish a list of certified ignition interlock systemsand shall ensure that such systems are available throughout the Commonwealth.The local alcohol safety action program shall make the list available toeligible offenders, who shall have the responsibility and authority to choosewhich certified ignition interlock company will supply the offender'sequipment. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system thatseeks to sell or lease the ignition interlock system to persons subject tothe provisions of § 18.2-270.1 shall pay the reasonable costs of obtainingthe required certification, as set forth by the Commission.

B. A person may not sell or lease or offer to sell or lease an ignitioninterlock system to any person subject to the provisions of § 18.2-270.1unless:

1. The system has been certified by the Commission; and

2. The warning label adopted by the Commission is affixed to the system.

C. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system shallprovide such services as may be required at no cost to the Commonwealth. Suchservices shall include a toll free, twenty-four-hour telephone number for theusers of ignition interlock systems.

(1995, c. 486; 2000, cc. 341, 362.)