Effective: April 6, 2017
Latest Legislation: House Bill 388 - 131st General Assembly
(A)(1) The director of public safety, upon consultation with the director of health and in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall certify immobilizing and disabling devices and, subject to section 4510.45 of the Revised Code, shall publish and make available to the courts, without charge, a list of licensed manufacturers of ignition interlock devices and approved devices together with information about the manufacturers of the devices and where they may be obtained. The manufacturer of an immobilizing or disabling device shall pay the cost of obtaining the certification of the device to the director of public safety, and the director shall deposit the payment in the indigent drivers alcohol treatment fund established by section 4511.191 of the Revised Code.
(2) The director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt and publish rules setting forth the requirements for obtaining the certification of an immobilizing or disabling device. The director of public safety shall not certify an immobilizing or disabling device under this section unless it meets the requirements specified and published by the director in the rules adopted pursuant to this division. A certified device may consist of an ignition interlock device, an ignition blocking device initiated by time or magnetic or electronic encoding, an activity monitor, or any other device that reasonably assures compliance with an order granting limited driving privileges. Ignition interlock devices shall be certified annually.
The requirements for an immobilizing or disabling device that is an ignition interlock device shall require that the manufacturer of the device submit to the department of public safety a certificate from an independent testing laboratory indicating that the device meets or exceeds the standards of the national highway traffic safety administration, as defined in section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, that are in effect at the time of the director's decision regarding certification of the device, shall include provisions for setting a minimum and maximum calibration range, and shall include, but shall not be limited to, specifications that the device complies with all of the following:
(a) It does not impede the safe operation of the vehicle.
(b) It has features that make circumvention difficult and that do not interfere with the normal use of the vehicle, and the features are operating and functioning.
(c) It correlates well with established measures of alcohol impairment.
(d) It works accurately and reliably in an unsupervised environment.
(e) It is resistant to tampering and shows evidence of tampering if tampering is attempted.
(f) It is difficult to circumvent and requires premeditation to do so.
(g) It minimizes inconvenience to a sober user.
(h) It requires a proper, deep-lung breath sample or other accurate measure of the concentration by weight of alcohol in the breath.
(i) It operates reliably over the range of automobile environments.
(j) It is made by a manufacturer who is covered by product liability insurance.
(k) Beginning January 1, 2020, it is equipped with a camera.
(3) The director of public safety may adopt, in whole or in part, the guidelines, rules, regulations, studies, or independent laboratory tests performed and relied upon by other states, or their agencies or commissions, in the certification or approval of immobilizing or disabling devices.
(4) The director of public safety shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the design of a warning label that shall be affixed to each immobilizing or disabling device upon installation. The label shall contain a warning that any person tampering, circumventing, or otherwise misusing the device is subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both and may be subject to civil liability.
( 5) The director of public safety shall establish a certificate of installation that a manufacturer of immobilizing or disabling devices shall sign and provide to a person upon the completion of the installation of such a device on the person's motor vehicle. The director also shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that govern procedures for confirming and inspecting the installation of i mmobilizing or disabling devices.
(B) A court considering the use of a prototype device in a pilot program shall advise the director of public safety, thirty days before the use, of the prototype device and its protocol, methodology, manufacturer, and licensor, lessor, other agent, or owner, and the length of the court's pilot program. A prototype device shall not be used for a violation of section 4510.14 or 4511.19 of the Revised Code, a violation of a municipal OVI ordinance, or in relation to a suspension imposed under section 4511.191 of the Revised Code. A court that uses a prototype device in a pilot program, periodically during the existence of the program and within fourteen days after termination of the program, shall report in writing to the director of public safety regarding the effectiveness of the prototype device and the program.
(C) If a person has been granted limited or unlimited driving privileges with a condition of the privileges being that the motor vehicle that is operated under the privileges must be equipped with an immobilizing or disabling device, the person may operate a motor vehicle that is owned by the person's employer only if the person is required to operate that motor vehicle in the course and scope of the offender's employment. Such a person may operate that vehicle without the installation of an immobilizing or disabling device, provided that the employer has been notified that the person has limited driving privileges and of the nature of the restriction and further provided that the person has proof of the employer's notification in the person's possession while operating the employer's vehicle for normal business duties. A motor vehicle owned by a business that is partly or entirely owned or controlled by a person with limited driving privileges is not a motor vehicle owned by an employer, for purposes of this division.