Orange County Register
Anyone convicted of driving while under the influence would need to install a device on their car that would prevent the car from starting if it detected alcohol, legislators proposed last week.
The effort spearheaded by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, extends California’s law that requires interlock initiation devices or breathalyzers for repeat DUI offenders and some first-time offenders. That law is set to expire at the end of the year, and legislators want to extend it indefinitely and expand it to include anyone convicted of a DUI, including first-time offenders.
“Drunk driving is a preventable tragedy that continues to devastate families and communities,” Petrie-Norris said.
For Sen. Bob Archuleta, a co-sponsor of the bill, the effort is incredibly personal.
On the evening of Dec. 23, Archuleta and his wife got a call. There had been an accident involving his granddaughter.
They got in the car and drove to Victorville, where their daughter was, from their home in Los Angeles. Along the way, they cried. They prayed.
And then they got the news. Their granddaughter, Samantha Alex Robles Haun, had been killed in the accident the day before Christmas Eve. She was 30 years old, recently earning a master’s degree in social work at Pacific Oaks College, Archuleta said.
“Her life was geared to help the needy and help those who have problems and issues,” Archuleta said in an interview.
The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident was arrested, his blood alcohol content at 0.22%, the Apple Valley Police Department said. The legal blood-alcohol level limit for driving in California is .08%. He sustained a broken foot in the crash, according to police.
In 2023, 1,089 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes, according to the California Highway Patrol, and 27,306 people were injured. Drunk drivers were stopped some 30,500 times that same year in California, said Petrie-Norris.
And according to data from Lending Tree, California accounts for eight of the top 10 cities with the highest DUI rates per 1,000 drivers. Sacramento comes in at No. 2, followed by Los Angeles, San Jose, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Diego and Long Beach. Oakland is ranked 10th. (Raleigh, North Carolina is No. 1, and Charlotte is No. 9.)
“We realized that we have to do something. California needs to step up,” said Archuleta, whose district includes Buena Park.
“This bill will open up doors and open up eyes that it could be your family,” he continued. “We need to implement this device in all DUI offenders’ cars right after they are convicted.”
Petrie-Norris said the bill is an “opportunity to save lives, for us to stop these tragic and preventable deaths before the car even starts.”
“Drunk driving is an epidemic in America,” said Petrie-Norris.
Petrie-Norris championed a similar effort last year, but it was unsuccessful.
That bill would have extended the sunset on the statewide program that can mandate an ignition interlock device for people convicted of multiple DUIs as well as established a pilot program for just five counties, including Orange, to extend that requirement to first-time offenders for six months.
The new bill says the ignition interlock devices would be installed for as long as a court orders.
The previous bill was supported by the Automobile Club of Southern California, the California Police Chiefs Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, among others. It was opposed by the ACLU California Action, the California Public Defenders Association and Root & Rebound, an Oakland-based organization that helps people navigate life post-incarceration.
“It’s been tough, no doubt,” Archuleta said in an emotional floor speech in early January, thanking his colleagues for their prayers and support after his granddaughter’s death. “But as you know, as a veteran, we got to keep pushing on.”
Honoring his granddaughter, Archuleta told the Senate that she was a proud member of her Air Force ROTC program, learned to read and write music and play the piano and trombone, and worked for Five Acres, an Altadena-based group that provides therapy for families in crisis and both outpatient and residential services to children.
“On her journey, Samantha found deep fulfillment when advocating and serving at-risk communities of foster children,” Archuleta said, noting that she specifically advocated for LGBTQ+ youth. “Samantha was an angel in that regard. Samantha was a lovely and wonderful person who was ready to take on a career serving the unfortunate.”
“She had many plans for the future, and we know, without a doubt, she would have completed her work being a positive person in the big challenging world that she faced,” the senator said.
The bill had not yet been assigned to a committee as of Friday.