Shop installs DUI interlock devices

Sometimes a second chance needs a few strings attached.

At least that’s the idea behind ignition interlock devices, which prevent cars from starting unless drivers pass a breath-alcohol test by blowing into a tube.

“Everyone makes mistakes and this gives them a chance to make up for them,” said Dale Schott, owner of Audio Installations. The shop recently gained the certification to install DUI interlock devices, and Schott said he has seen a long waiting list for the machines.

The interlock company supplies the equipment and training, and Schott charges for the installation.

“Of all the things in the world, I never thought I’d be doing this,” Schott said.

When Schott picked up the certification from another local car audio dealer, the other dealer had only completed 24 installations. Already Schott has done 232 and the list keeps growing, he said.

He’s been particularly surprised, though, to see the scope of people who have the devices placed in their cars, from lawyers, to court clerks to game officers.

It’s a wide range of people,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot of scumbag people, which kind of surprised me.”

The service, often required by courts as part of a sentence for driving while intoxicated, costs $70 a month and users come in every two months to have the data from the device sent in to the monitoring company.

The process only takes Schott about a half-hour to complete, but for more expensive cars, it takes a bit longer.

“It’s good for the people,” he said. “It keeps people who are drinking off the road.”

And some people even choose to leave the devices in their cars after their sentences are up.

“Maybe they just don’t trust themselves enough,” Schott said.