OGDEN — In 1995, the son-in-law of Goodyear TAS Tire & Auto owner John Savage was killed by a drunken driver, so for the last six years, Savage has helped reduce the risk of that happening to other families by installing more than 500 Smart Start units in the vehicles of people convicted of driving while intoxicated.
“When I found out about these, it seemed like they just made sense,” Savage said. “If the guy who hit my son-in-law had to have one of these, he wouldn’t have been able to start his vehicle and my son-in-law would still be alive.”
Along with Chet Summers, a 16-year veteran of TAS Tire and Smart Start's program manager, Savage installs, trains and services the court-ordered devices — not much bigger than an iPod — that require drivers to blow into the unit and pass a breathalyzer test before the vehicle can be started.
Officially called an ignition interrupt device, or IID, the unit is wired to the vehicle’s starter. Installation and training the user to operate the apparatus takes about two hours and typically costs $50, plus an average $70 to $80 per month in rental fees.
Information generated by the device is collected each month at Savage’s shop and sent directly to Smart Start headquarters in Irving, Texas. Once evaluated, the data is sent to the appropriate officials in the jurisdiction where the order was entered.
Smart Start statistics estimate that, while DUI convictions typically come with a suspension of the individual’s driver’s license,
75 percent of those convicted continue to drive, whether to work, to school or for family functions.
Savage explained that installation of the IIDs is mandatory in convictions in which the driver has received two or more DUIs in a 10-year period or the blood-alcohol level at the time of arrest was double the legal limit. He also noted that while there are an estimated 15,000 DUIs each year in Utah, less than 10 percent of the convicted drivers end up with IIDs, a figure he expects will change with a new law scheduled to take effect in July.
“As soon as you get a DUI, your license is suspended, and usually it’s a 90-day suspension,” he said. “At the end of the 90 days, you could go get your license back and the DMV would advise you that you have to have an IID installed in your car. Now they’re changing the law so that you have to prove to the DMV that you have it installed before they will give you your license back.”
Smart Start is one of five national companies that manufacture IIDs. Its product can be found in seven service centers like Savage’s in Utah.
The company also boasts a nationwide network of more than 2,000 service centers where users can have their monthly information downloaded and their device serviced or installed.
Aside from the nationwide presence, Savage said he decided to become a dealer for Smart Start because of some technological advantages its units offer.
“They make camera units that actually mount on the windshield mirror. They have GPS capabilities and even cellular monitoring.”
Helping to deter possible abuse of the units, installed cameras confirm that the person blowing into the IID is the appropriate individual, and the cellular tracking allows officials to instantly obtain a readout from the computer instead of waiting for monthly reports.
The units also instigate “rolling retests,” which require the driver to retest once the car has started to ensure a second party wasn’t used to get the ignition to work. Also, a “hum tone” feature relies on the vibration of the person’s hum so compressed air can’t be used for the sample.
Summers, the program manager, said the program has been a huge success and that he has even had customers continue using the service when their sentence was up.
“It’s pretty neat,” he said. “I think it helps more than just keeping them and us safe. It gets their license back. It gets them back to work and gives them that important sense of self-being.”
While TAS Tire is a full-service garage that runs the gamut when it comes to automotive services, Savage said his Smart Start division is one of the most important.
He also noted that Summers and the rest of his 14 staff members don’t judge anyone who is required to have the device installed.
In fact, he’s honored that he can help get people back on track.
“Rather than just taking the license away and saying, ‘You’re done,’ ” Savage said, “this gives them a way to get their license back and lets them drive, but keeps them from drinking.”
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