(WHAS11) - A device that could stop drunk driving and the bill attached to it is making its way through Kentucky's General Assembly.
The bill has already passed its first hurdle and would lead to breath-alcohol monitors in vehicles of those caught driving drunk.
It's an ignition lock system already used in many states.
In New Mexico, drunken driving crashes dropped 65% after the first year in use.
Nearly every state is looking at this device and wondering if this could be the fix to stop drunk driving.
Kelly Keene graduated from college, but her injuries from a drunk driving accident led her father - a member of the State House - to take action.
"I don't think that gentleman woke up one morning and said I'm going to kill Kelly Keene but he made a bad decision that day and he ended up impacting my child's life along with my whole family," says Dennis Keene.
Now Dennis Keene is working to make an impact on drunk driving.
His bill he hopes will become law would require a breath alcohol monitor in the cars of those caught driving drunk.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been working to make this device law in Kentucky for years.
The locks require a driver to prove they're not drunk by blowing into the device before the car will start. The cost is about $3 per day.
But the state's public advocate warns there could be unintentional costs to the poor, saying that those who can’t afford the ignition lock would have difficulties getting to work.
"Indigent criminal defendants who are authentically poor and do not have the ability to afford the ignition interlock that would almost undoubtedly result in difficulties getting to work."
The driver who hit Kelly Keene had a prior dui and the device could have made a difference.
Those who advocate using this lock system say the cost is minimal. They like to say the price of a beer.
And the newer devices do require a breath ID of sorts so that the driver charged with dui couldn't have someone else breathe into the device and pass.
Next this goes to the full house for a vote and WHAS11 News and WHAS11.com will keep you posted.
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