If a person has been arrested for a suspected drunken driving offense in South Carolina, they will want to get educated about their defense options and any potential penalties they could face if they are eventually convicted of an impaired driving charge. One penalty that may be associated with a driving under the influence charge is the required use of an ignition interlock device.
The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services explains that even if a drunk driving charge is a first offense, a driver might be ordered to install and use an IID. This could happen if the blood alcohol content was 0.16 percent or greater at the time of arrest. People may know that an IID requires drivers to supply a clean breath sample every time they want to drive their vehicles. But, one thing that many people in South Carolina might not know is that an IID system might be taking their picture every time they take a breath test.
Under state law, any approved ignition interlock device system must include a camera. According to Intoxalock, an IID supplier, this camera would be installed when the rest of the system is installed. The camera would be mounted somewhere on the front windshield.
The objective of the camera is to ensure that it is the driver who is taking the breath test. The photo verification may be some of the data supplied to the state agencies that receive regular reporting data during the time that a person is required to use an IID.
