ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Rich Leotta's son, Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta, was struck and killed by a drunk driver while conducting DUI enforcement in December 2015. Since then, Rich Leotta has worked hard to strengthen drunk driving laws in Maryland.
In 2016, lawmakers passed Noah's Law, but Rich Leotta said the law is being trampled on because of a loophole.
Rich Leotta and other advocates wanted and pushed for an all-offender DUI law, meaning if you're arrested for a DUI, you have to get an interlock device installed in your vehicle that stops you from drinking and driving while your license is restricted.
"That's what we were hoping to get," Rich Leotta said. "Somewhere between what we'd seen earlier in the day in the last day of the session and behind closed doors, the legislators found it in their wisdom to drop an aspect out of the bill, which instead of all offenders, in other words, everybody gets an interlock upon arrest, it would be only those that are convicted of drunk driving."
Many DUI offenders in Maryland are not convicted. They are given probation before judgment, or PBJ.
"If they are not convicted... the judge does not have to order an interlock," Leotta said of the current law. "They are not compelled to do that. The law did not compel it."
Now, eight years after the law's passage with the loophole in place, legislators held a hearing in the Maryland House to close it. The Maryland House Judiciary Committee heard House Bill 105 Wednesday. The legislation would require first time DUI offenders to drive 180 days with an ignition interlock device. Offenders would have to pass a breath test. If they don't, the car won't start.
Rich Leotta was at that hearing. He did not mince words when discussing Maryland legislators who have failed to close the loophole.
"They basically have blood on their hands," Rich Leotta said Wednesday. "We give them the answers in writing, verbally, and they don't seem to do it. So either they get on board and save lives, or they are against the community."
According to testimony from St. Mary's County State's Attorney Jaymi Sterling, since 2019, 67% of accused drunk drivers in Maryland receive PBJ. The result has been at least 36,000 people serving probation for drunk driving continuing to get behind the wheel without an ignition interlock device as a safety measure.
By contrast, among those convicted of DUI who were required to have the devices, at least 3,000 attempts to drive impaired were stopped, according to MVA Administrator Christine Nizer, who testified Wednesday.
If HB105 passes, the law would take effect on Oct. 1, 2024.
The most recent data from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) shows that ignition interlocks stopped 7,042 attempts to drive drunk in 2020.
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