Colorado has required ignition interlock devices — small breathalyzers wired into a car’s ignition — for drunk driving offenders for years. The idea is straightforward: if you’ve been convicted, you prove you’re sober before the engine starts.
But a quiet gap in state law has allowed thousands of first-time offenders to avoid installing one entirely. No device. No test. Just a suspended license — and eventually, the keys back.
How that’s possible, and what lawmakers want to do about it, is the question now sitting on the governor’s desk.
What is an ignition interlock device — and why does it matter?
An ignition interlock device, or IID, is a breath-test unit hardwired into a vehicle’s ignition system. Before the engine starts, the driver must blow into it. If alcohol is detected above a preset threshold, the car stays off. Some models require periodic rolling retests while the vehicle is in motion, making it harder for a sober third party to start the car on the driver’s behalf.
The evidence behind IIDs is solid. Research consistently shows the devices reduce repeat drunk driving offenses during the period they’re installed — functioning less as punishment and more as a practical barrier, a daily reminder that driving and drinking don’t mix.
In Colorado, IIDs are currently required as a condition of license reinstatement following a DUI conviction. In theory, anyone who wants their driving privileges back has to use one. In practice, the law has a gap wide enough for thousands of people to slip through.
The loophole that lets some offenders walk away without one
Under current Colorado law, certain first-time offenders don’t have to install an IID at all. Rather than complying with the device requirement, they can simply wait out their license suspension. Once that window closes, they’re eligible to get their license back — no interlock required.
It’s a legal workaround, and it’s not limited to one category of driver. Drivers who refused chemical testing — declining a breathalyzer or blood draw during a traffic stop — can also delay IID installation under the existing statute. That’s a significant detail, because refusal is often a deliberate choice made by drivers who suspect they’d fail.
These two pathways undermine the intent of Colorado’s drunk driving laws. The IID requirement was designed to ensure convicted offenders demonstrate sobriety before returning to the road. When someone can sidestep the device by waiting long enough, that guarantee disappears.
What HB 1242 would change
House Bill 1242 targets both gaps directly. Its central provision would require IID use by all convicted drunk driving offenders as a condition of license reinstatement — no exceptions, no waiting game, no path back to driving that bypasses the device.
The bill also addresses the chemical test refusal issue. Under HB 1242, drivers who refused testing would be permitted to install an IID sooner, rather than waiting through a longer delay before becoming eligible. That may seem counterintuitive — offering earlier access to drivers who refused testing — but the practical goal is getting the device in place faster, maximizing the time a safety mechanism is actively working. The bill passed the Colorado legislature and is now awaiting Governor Jared Polis’s signature.
Advocates push the governor to act
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a national road safety organization, has formally urged Governor Polis to sign the bill. In a letter to the governor, the group laid out the public safety case: closing this loophole doesn’t only affect offenders themselves. It protects passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers who have no say in whether a convicted drunk driver has been screened for sobriety that morning.
The broader national picture supports that argument. States that have adopted universal IID laws — applying to all convicted drunk drivers without exception — have generally seen reductions in alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. Colorado’s current framework, with its built-in escape route, leaves the state behind where the evidence suggests it should be.
What happens if the bill is — or isn’t — signed
If Governor Polis signs HB 1242, the effect is clear: every convicted drunk driver in Colorado must use an ignition interlock device before regaining driving privileges. No exceptions based on offense number. No waiting out the clock.
If the bill stalls or goes unsigned, the loophole remains. A subset of first-time offenders will keep avoiding the device entirely, and the law’s promise of accountability will continue falling short of its stated purpose. Advocates have made clear they intend to keep pressing on this issue regardless of the outcome. For now, the next move belongs to the governor — and the road safety community is watching closely.