Ignition interlock device
breathalyzer connected to a vehicle's engine
An ignition interlock device or breath alcohol ignition interlock device (IID or BAIID) is a breathalyzer for an individual's vehicle. It requires the driver to blow into a mouthpiece on the device before starting or continuing to operate the vehicle. If the resultant breath-alcohol concentration analyzed result is greater than the programmed blood alcohol concentration (which varies between countries), the device prevents the engine from being started. The interlock device is located inside the vehicle, near the driver’s seat, and is directly connected to the engine’s ignition system. It is a form of electronic monitoring.
An ignition interlock interrupts the signal from the ignition to the starter until a valid breath sample is provided that meets maximal alcohol guidelines in that jurisdiction. At that point, the vehicle can be started as normal. A breath sample is not required to start the vehicle if the engine has been running within a time-out period, to allow quick re-starts in case the vehicle stalls. At random times after the engine has been started, the IID will require another breath sample, referred to as a rolling retest. The purpose of the rolling retest is to prevent someone other than the driver from providing a breath sample.
The public source identifies “Ignition interlock device” as breathalyzer connected to a vehicle's engine. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ignition, interlock and device.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1416572. The Library of Congress control number is sh99000882. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ignition interlock device” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.