First, Dan Towery was a victim of drunken driving. Then he became an advocate against it. Now, he's a businessman launching a new career trying to prevent it.

Towery, who saw his daughter and her boyfriend killed in a crash caused by a drunken driver in March 1999, has opened a new business named in their honor.

Towery's new enterprise, S&C Ignition Interlock LLC, is a subfranchise of Smart Start Inc., a Dallas-based company that manufactures and markets ignition interlock devices that require a driver to give an alcohol-free breath test before the vehicle will start.

Towery explained the program Friday to a group of 30 attorneys, court staff, probation officers and police officers at Tippecanoe Superior Court 6, which has jurisdiction over misdemeanor drunken driving cases.

"Everybody will be treated with the utmost respect," Towery said. "We're going to try to help them. We're going to try to change their behavior."

One of Lafayette's most prominent OWI attorneys said he wishes Towery luck, but he has some concerns about the use of ignition interlock based on his clients' past experiences with other vendors.

"I think he's right; it's another tool that can be used. I always want to encourage that," attorney Matt Sandy said. "It's good for the safety of the community, and it has a beneficial effect for the clients in their recovery."

But one past client had major problems with a similar system and had to have his vehicle towed several times because the device malfunctioned or was overly sensitive.

"They'd drink a Mountain Dew, and they couldn't drive. They'd smoke a cigarette, and they couldn't drive," Sandy said. "It was horrible, horrible. It never worked right."

Towery acknowledged that the breath sensors used on all ignition interlock devices are extremely sensitive, but he said the Smart Start system uses fuel cell technology that is superior to the technology used when ignition interlock debuted in 1988.

Judge's plan

Judge Michael Morrissey of Superior Court 6 said he has required ignition interlock in the past as a term of bond or probation, but only in rare cases because of the lack of a local vendor. In recent months, offenders ordered to use the devices have had to go to Ohio and Illinois to have them installed and serviced.

Morrissey said he plans to order ignition interlock for people:

With an OWI conviction when prosecutors file a petition to revoke probation based on an alcohol violation.

Arrested on suspicion of OWI while they have a previous drunken driving case pending.

In lieu of a license suspension while an OWI case is pending.

Morrissey said he also will consider imposing ignition interlock for people convicted of Class D felony drunken driving if there are mitigating factors in the case.

Some concerns

Morrissey said he thinks 1,000 to 1,500 people who appear before him eventually could have the devices on their vehicles at any given time. But some observers Friday expected lots of hiccups along the way.

Attorney Earl McCoy is concerned because the device is designed to go into lockout mode after the driver has three test failures. When that happens, it costs $50 to reset.

McCoy worries that people who have breathing problems and have trouble blowing into the portable breathalyzer for the required 6 seconds will accumulate three failures fairly quickly.

"There's a potential there for a lot of added expense," McCoy said.

Drivers already will have paid $70 to install the device and $90 a month for data downloads and calibrations. It will cost them $60 to remove the device once they complete their time on the program.

Towery said people can avoid being locked out by not attempting to start their cars unless the unit first indicates they passed the breath test.

Morrissey said he likes the ignition interlock concept because it reminds offenders several times a day that their behavior is being monitored.

"We've got a local company now," Morrissey said, "and I'm going to feel a lot more comfortable working with Dan and his company."

On the Net

* Smart Start: www.smartstartinc.com

About the name

The initials in S&C Ignition Interlock stand for Sarah Towery, 24, and her boyfriend, Chip Smith, 20, who were killed when the drunken driver of a pickup truck crossed the center line on County Road 350 South on March 26, 1999, causing a head-on crash that killed all three people involved.

Sarah's father, Dan Towery, has since founded a Mothers Against Drunken Driving chapter in Lafayette and lobbied the Indiana Legislature for enhanced drunken driving laws.

He took early retirement this month from his job as an agronomist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture so he could start the new business.