SBIR-STTR Award

All 50 States have enacted laws providing for alcohol ignition interlocks as a sanction for impaired driving. Going forward, interlock programs may become as widely use with impaired drivers than license suspension even though they are more time consuming and expensive for the government to manage. Although the extra expense of managing interlock programs is justified by the reductions in recidivism, the added administrative requirements have strained the limited staff available to courts and motor vehicle departments, resulting in substantial limitations in monitoring quality. This application proposes an alternative to having the government cover the entire cost of monitoring by moving some elements to the interlock provider so that the offender ultimately pays for the service. Additionally, these monitoring efforts can be expanded to include client education and prevention. Axxess Unlimited has developed a client "Dashboard," an interlock data delivery system that eases this transition. Based on existing research and theory described herein, this application will augment the Axxess AIR" Dashboard to include (a) extended training and education to offenders (clients) at program entry, (b) timely alerts on interlock noncompliance, (c) ongoing education specific to individual noncompliance records, as well as ongoing prevention education around separating drinking and driving, and (d) implanting a system of fees and rewards based on performance to motivate client compliance. Together, these proposed Dashboard augmentations have been titled the "Responsive Intelligent System of Education (RISE)." Through an extended evaluation, RISE will be tested to determine whether it can modify the behaviors of DUI offenders to help them better adapt to the interlock, achieve greater compliance with DUI laws, and ultimately reduce DUI recidivism.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
Reducing the prevalence of driving-while-intoxicated is a national public health priority. Interlock programs are an effective method for controlling drinking-driving and possibly future recidivism. This application will use innovative technology to improve interlock user outcomes while introducing efficiencies that will save the government money. Specifically, the fuller development and evaluation of a business model "Responsive Intelligent System of Education (RISE)" will assist interlock users in adapting to the interlock an avoiding lockouts. The ultimate goal will be for offenders to maintain the reduced recidivism rate they experienced while on the unit after reinstallation.

Project Terms:
Accounting; Alcohols; Arizona; Automobile Driving; base; Behavior; Behavioral; Businesses; Case-Control Studies; Client; Client satisfaction; commercialization; computerized; convict; cost; Country; court; Data; design; Development; Devices; drinking; Driving While Intoxicated; Educational aspects; Elements; Evaluation; Evaluation Research; experience; Expert Systems; Feedback; Fees; Funding; Future; Goals; Government; ignition interlock device; Impact evaluation; impaired driving performance; Implant; improved; Individual; injured; innovative technologies; Intervention; Jail; Laws; Licensing; Measures; Methods; Modeling; Monitor; Motor Vehicles; non-compliance; novel; offender; Online Systems; Outcome; Performance; Phase; Prevalence; Prevention; Prevention education; Process; programs; Provider; public health priorities; public health relevance; recidivism; Records; Research; Research Institute; Research Support; Resources; response; Rewards; satisfaction; Services; Staging; Structure; success; Suspension substance; Suspensions; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; theories; Time; Training and Education

All 50 States have enacted laws providing for alcohol ignition interlocks as a sanction for impaired driving. Going forward, interlock programs may become as widely used with impaired drivers as license suspension even though they are more time consuming and expensive for the government to manage. Although the extra expense of managing interlock programs is justified by the reductions in recidivism, the added administrative requirements have strained the limited staff available to courts and motor vehicle departments, resulting in substantial limitations in monitoring quality. This application proposes an alternative to having the government cover the entire cost of monitoring by moving some elements to the interlock provider so that the offender ultimately pays for the service. Additionally, these monitoring efforts can be expanded to include client education and prevention. Axxess Unlimited has developed a client "Dashboard," an interlock data delivery system that eases this transition. Based on existing research and theory described herein, this application will augment the Axxess AIR" Dashboard to include (a) extended training and education to offenders (clients) at program entry, (b) timely alerts on interlock noncompliance, (c) ongoing education specific to individual noncompliance records, as well as ongoing prevention education around separating drinking and driving, and (d) implanting a system of fees and rewards based on performance to motivate client compliance. Together, these proposed Dashboard augmentations have been titled the "Responsive Intelligent System of Education (RISE)." Through an extended evaluation, RISE will be tested to determine whether it can modify the behaviors of DUI offenders to help them better adapt to the interlock, achieve greater compliance with DUI laws, and ultimately reduce DUI recidivism.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
Reducing the prevalence of driving-while-intoxicated is a national public health priority. Interlock programs are an effective method for controlling drinking-driving and possibly future recidivism. This application will use innovative technology to improve interlock user outcomes while introducing efficiencies that will save the government money. Specifically, the fuller development and evaluation of a business model "Responsive Intelligent System of Education (RISE)" will assist interlock users in adapting to the interlock an avoiding lockouts. The ultimate goal will be for offenders to maintain the reduced recidivism rate they experienced while on the unit after reinstallation.

NIH Spending Category:
Alcoholism, Alcohol Use and Health; Behavioral and Social Science; Clinical Research; Networking and Information Technology R&D; Prevention; Substance Abuse

Project Terms:
Accounting; Alcohols; Arizona; Automobile Driving; base; Behavior; Behavioral; Businesses; Case-Control Studies; Client; Client satisfaction; commercialization; computerized; convict; cost; Country; court; Data; design; Development; Devices; drinking; Driving While Intoxicated; Education; Elements; Evaluation; Evaluation Research; experience; Expert Systems; Feedback; Fees; Funding; Future; Goals; Government; Health; ignition interlock device; Impact evaluation; impaired driving performance; Implant; improved; Individual; injured; innovative technologies; Intervention; Jail; Laws; Licensing; Measures; Methods; Modeling; Monitor; Motor Vehicles; non-compliance; novel; offender; Online Systems; Outcome; Performance; Phase; Prevalence; Prevention; Prevention education; Process; programs; Provider; public health priorities; recidivism; Records; Research; Research Institute; Research Support; Resources; response; Rewards; satisfaction; Services; Staging; Structure; success; Suspension substance; Suspensions; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; theories; Time; Training and Education