After a DUI in Nevada, you must have an ignition interlock device (IID) installed in your car for you to continue driving while your driver’s license is suspended. IIDs are small breathalyzers that prevent your car from starting if it detects alcohol on your breath.

This chart illustrates how long you must drive with an IID following a DUI in Nevada.

Below our Las Vegas DUI defense lawyers discuss:

• 1. How IIDs Work
• 2. Driving Without It
• 3. Requirements
• 4. Undue Hardship
• 5. What if I fail?
• 6. How do I get one?
• 7. License Reinstatement
• 8. DUI Penalties

IIDs are also called BIDs, short for “breath interlock devices.”

1. How IIDs Work

IIDs keep a log of all failed breath tests. At your next appointment with the IID-certified service provider, the technician will download the information and give it to the court.

How the court responds to failed tests depends on the specific case. If there was an innocent explanation — such as you using mouthwash with alcohol — there may be no repercussions. Otherwise, the judge will likely increase the length of time you must use the IID.¹

If the failed test occurs in the last four months of your IID sentence, the judge can increase this sentence by up to 50%:²

Example: Jed is ordered to use an IID for 12 months. In month 10, Jed fails the IID test. Since he is within the last four months of the sentence, the judge can increase his IID sentence by six months — 50% of his original year-long sentence.

If the judge had ordered you to abstain from alcohol, then a failed test could result in you going to jail.

IIDs are small, no bigger than a mobile phone. They are installed on a vehicle’s steering column near the ignition.

2. Driving Without It

Driving without an IID — or tampering with it — is a misdemeanor in Nevada. The penalty is either:

• 30 days to 6 months in jail; or
• 60 days to 6 months in home confinement and $500 to $1,000 in fines.

In addition, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles will revoke your license for three years. If you drive without an IID again, the Nevada DMV will revoke your license for five years.³

It is also a misdemeanor for anyone but you to blow in your IID. The penalty includes:

• up to 6 months in jail; and/or
• up to $1,000 in fines.⁴

3. Requirements

If you are ordered to use IIDs, you are required to install one in every car and motorcycle you drive. It makes no difference whether or not you own the cars.

You may drive your employers’ company cars without an IID only if:

1. there is written proof the employer was notified of your IID restriction; and
2. that written proof is kept in the company car at all times; and
3. the company car is not a commercial vehicle.

Written proof can be a court order with your employer’s signature. Alternatively, it could be a letter written by your employer stating their awareness of your IID restriction.⁵

4. Undue Hardship

If you are convicted of a DUI-first in Nevada, you can potentially get out the IID requirement by showing it causes you undue hardship. There are four possible grounds for undue hardship:

1. you cannot provide a deep lung sample, and a physician confirms this in writing;
2. you reside more than 100 miles from an IID manufacturer or agent;
3. maintaining an IID would pose an economic hardship; or
4. your car is necessary to travel for work or to obtain medicine, food, necessities, or health care for you or your immediate family.⁶

IIDs have a mouthpiece where you are required to blow. If the breath sample is alcohol-free, the car can start.

5. What if I fail?

If the IID detects that your BAC is 0.02% or higher, the IID will disable the car from starting because you are presumably under the influence of alcohol.⁷

Once the car is running, the IID will conduct periodic rolling tests within the first 15 minutes of starting the car, and then again at 45-minute intervals.

When the IID asks for a rolling sample, you usually have six minutes to breathe into the device. If you do not pass the breath test or neglect to provide a sample in time, the car will not stop. Instead, the IID will register a fail in its log.

6. How do I get one?

Go to a certified service interlock provider that offers IIDs certified by the Nevada Committee on Testing for Intoxication. The court or DMV should provide a list of where you can go to get the IID.

Only employees at certified service providers may install, check, repair, and remove breath interlock devices. Once you get the IID, you must provide proof of ignition interlock device installation to the DMV.

Approved Interlock Providers in Nevada

• AlcoAlert Interlock, Inc.
• Alcohol Detection Systems – Determinator
• ALCOLOCK
• B.E.S.T. Labs Inc. – FR9000
• Draeger (RoadGuard) – Draeger Interlock or Draeger XT
• Guardian – Guardian AMS 2500
• Intoxalock
• LMG / Lifesafer
• Low Cost Interlock
• SkyFineUSA
• Smart Start – SSI 20/20

Costs and Maintenance

It usually costs up to $170 to install and another $120 per month to maintain each IID. You are also responsible for the costs of repairing, calibrating, and removing the IID.

You must get your IIDs inspected by the manufacturer or its agent regularly. The frequency of these inspections depends on your DUI conviction, as the following table shows:⁸

7. License Reinstatement

Contact the DMV for the exact reinstatement requirements in your particular case. Expect to:

• appear at a DMV office in person,
• pay reinstatement fees, and
• show proof of SR-22 insurance (proof of financial responsibility).

In some cases, you may have to take a driving skills test.

8. DUI Penalties

The penalties for driving under the influence in Nevada grow harsher with each successive conviction, as the following table shows:

Note that refusing to take a preliminary breath test or an evidentiary chemical test will result in an immediate license revocation for at least one year.⁹

Legal References