Print edition: 
The Legislature should not back away from requiring ignition interlock systems for first-time drunken drivers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving said Monday.
That requirement was stripped by a conference committee Friday from a bill approved earlier in the week by a unanimous House.
MADD urged the House to reject the change.
"Lawmakers should do everything possible to reduce drunk driving and save lives," said Frank Harris, state legislative affairs manager for MADD on Monday.
But Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, who chairs the Kansas DUI Commission, urged patience.
The commission, established last year, has undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of the state's DUI laws and is expected to propose a package of changes next year. Wait for that instead of tinkering with small changes now, Owens said.
"To do all these little piecemeal changes is exactly the problem we have had in getting our DUI law the way it is right now," he said. "I've requested we not have all of those little changes made. Even though they might be good, they aren't ready for the comprehensive bill."
Currently, interlock devices are required for drivers who are convicted of a second drunken-driving offense, who refuse a Breathalyzer test or who are caught with a 0.15 blood alcohol level — almost twice the legal limit of 0.08.
The interlock devices won't allow the car to start if the driver's blood alcohol level is half the legal limit or greater. The driver's levels also are randomly tested while the car is moving. The devices cost $50 to $70 for installation and $65 to $75 a month in fees after that.
The bill had proposed that first-time offenders use an ignition interlock device for one year and that subsequent offenses trigger an increase in the number of years the devices must be used.
Requiring ignition interlock systems for first-time drunken driving convictions could reduce drunken driving fatalities by 30 percent and decrease the number of people with multiple drunken driving convictions, Harris said.
Twelve states, including Nebraska and Colorado, require ignition interlock devices for those convicted of a first drunken driving offense.
Requirements for ignition interlocks are part of the commission's discussion, Owens said, but the final details might not be the same as the House's proposal.
Lawmakers created the commission in 2009 shortly after the Kansas Substance Abuse Policy Board concluded that the state's DUI laws were so complex and dysfunctional that the system needed a complete overhaul.
The commission came six months after Claudia Mijares and her 4-year-old daughter, Gisele, were killed by a drunken driver while walking across the street to a Wichita school.
Gary Hammitt had four DUI convictions, but still had a valid driver's license. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to nearly 40 years in prison.
Harris said there might not be much harm in waiting an additional six months for the commission to propose its changes, "but the longer they wait, the longer the people of Kansas are not afforded a basic protection."
He noted that Kansas was one of the few states to see an increase in drunken driving fatalities in 2009, when the numbers decreased nationally.
A report prepared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that Kansas' overall fatality rate dropped from 1.38 to 1.30 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. But the number of alcohol-related deaths rose from 0.36 to 0.49 per 100 million miles traveled.
Kansas' 36.1 percent year-to-year increase was second only to the 40.0 percent jump recorded in New Hampshire.
"We are stubborn on this for all the right reasons, and we just want to see whatever can be done now to save lives," Harris said.
