Ignition interlock exemption: who can get one

IID stands for ignition interlock device. It's the breath tester hooked into your car that won't let the engine start if it picks up alcohol. Exemptions mostly come in three kinds, and your state might offer all of them, a couple, or none.

One kind covers people with no vehicle at all. Another is medical. California grants a medical exemption when a condition leaves you unable to blow with enough force to work the device, and you file it with form DL 4063, filled out by both you and your medical provider.

The third kind involves work vehicles. In Washington, the state can waive the requirement for most work vehicles for 1 year if your employer signs a declaration. Oregon calls it an Employer IID Exception, filed on form 735-6874, and you have to keep the employer-signed exception and a valid license or hardship permit with you any time you're behind the wheel of the work vehicle. Pennsylvania's DL-3805 affidavit lets you drive an employer-owned vehicle with no interlock for work, but it doesn't cover school buses or vehicles that carry more than 15 passengers. Minnesota handles it through form PS31205 to exempt a vehicle owned by an employer.

If you're your own boss, the work exemption usually won't be open to you. Washington grants it to self-employed drivers only when the vehicle is used for work and nothing else, and Oregon rules it out entirely for self-employed people.

Pennsylvania adds one more option based on income. If you earn under 200% of the poverty level, you can request a Hardship Exemption. That limits the device to a single vehicle instead of letting you skip it altogether.

Not owning a car doesn't end the requirement on its own. You still have to prove it, and each state handles that differently.

In California, you must not own a vehicle or have access to one at home, and you must no longer have the vehicle involved in your arrest. You file form DL 4062 within 30 days of the notice suspending or revoking your license, so it pays to get moving as soon as the notice shows up.

In Pennsylvania, an interlock vendor looks at PennDOT records and confirms you own no vehicles, which clears the way for your license. Wisconsin works differently: if you've given up owning or operating any vehicle in your own name, you take the request to the court that convicted you rather than the office that handles licenses.

California attaches a catch to its exemption. If you get it, you have to sit out the whole suspension or revocation period and finish the DUI program without driving. That means no driving at all until the full term is over, so before you apply, be honest with yourself about how long you can manage without a car.

Massachusetts requires an interlock in every vehicle you own, lease or operate, an employer's vehicle included, no exceptions. If that's your state, an exemption is off the table, and your only real decision is which installer to use.

Arkansas treats first offenders more generously. It doesn't require an interlock for someone who can't produce a deep-lung breath sample, lives more than 100 miles away from a provider, or is driving a vehicle owned by their employer for work. A deep-lung breath sample means the long, hard blow the device needs to get a proper reading.

If your state isn't listed, that doesn't mean it has no exemptions, so check its rules before arranging installation. Call 888-528-2919 and your details go to an installer that covers your state, who books your appointment.