State's new DWI law a boon for some LI businesses

As New York law enforcement officials crack down on drunken drivers with a new state provision requiring ignition interlock devices for every convicted offender, Long Island businesses that deal with the devices are expecting to see a lot more customers.

The number of customers seeking to install the device has tripled in the past couple of weeks at an independent Goodyear in Amityville, said co-owner Dominic Minutoli. "Everybody and anybody is getting them. It's a sign of the times," he said Tuesday.

Under the second provision of Leandra's Law, which took effect Sunday, a driver convicted of misdemeanor or felony driving while intoxicated - including first-time offenders - can be required to install an ignition interlock system in his or her vehicle. The system is activated by blowing into a handheld device that measures blood-alcohol content before a driver can start the ignition. It prevents the car from starting if it detects excess alcohol. Offenders caught driving without an interlock device could be sent to jail for up to a year.

The law was adopted last year after Leandra Rosado, 11, was killed in a car crash in Manhattan because the driver of the car she was in was drunk. Within 10 business days of their sentencing, offenders must sign up with one of six state-approved manufacturers and have a device installed at one of Long Island's two dozen certified centers.

Convicted drivers are required to pay the costs for installation and rental of the devices. Installation can run from free, as part of a yearlong promotion from one manufacturer, Smart Start, to more than $150 for work done on luxury cars. Monthly leasing fees can range from $74 to $90 a month, depending on added features with the device, which include GPS and cameras.

Mark Rock, manager of Movin' On Sound in Franklin Square, said his audio store has installed the devices for years for DWI offenders ordered to have them as part of their probation program, and the store currently had about 100 such customers. Though the state has just made ignition interlock devices for convicted drunken drivers mandatory, the devices have been used on Long Island for more than a decade.

Some customers have voluntarily installed the devices on their cars in their struggle for sobriety or to monitor their teenage children, said Central Sight and Sound of Farmingdale employee Anthony Each.

John Ruocco, chief executive of Shirley-based Interceptor Ignition Interlocks Inc. said he can see an attitude shift among the threefold jump in orders for his product. "Everybody realizes that this whole thing is being taken quite seriously right now," Ruocco said, calling the law "a major change for good."

Roughly 5,000 Long Islanders are among the 25,000 people convicted of driving while intoxicated every year statewide.

Tuesday, the Nassau district attorney's office said four convicted drunken drivers had been required to have the devices fitted at their sentencings - one on Monday and three Tuesday - under the new provision. The Suffolk district attorney's office said it has not yet sentenced any DWI cases under the provision.

With Matthew Chayes