Ignition Interlock devices - opinions?
 

Has anyone had any success with these? Or is the relief from knowing they cannot drive a vehicle under the influence enough for some?

I had one for 6 months. Wha do you want to know?

These things are very sensitive. They detect contamination of your breath. Smoking or spicy food can make you fail them if you don't clear your lungs good before blowing. They hook them up to a computer and that tells them exactly how dirty your breath was at what time everytime you blow in it. If it is too bad they will notify your probation people and that is a violation.

Can people successfully tamper with them?

You can stick a paper clip in a hole to override it but you will have to go have it reset and they can call that a violation of probation

What if you're not on probation and family members had it installed for you, to try to help you?

How can family members install such a device on a person's car without their permission?

To the point on who/why could one be installed, it does seem like it would be up to the person or the court. However, my therapist told me that she's had clients who chose to keep the system on their car after having completed a court-ordered time period with it. They liked the accountability and safety it helped them achieve.

If permission was given, why the question of whether or not a person can tamper with the device?

The vehicle is in their step-dad's name and their mom, the alcoholic, drives it, otherwise I think it'd actually be illegal.