Officials are increasingly turning to ignition-interlock devices in the campaign to prevent drunk driving, the Associated Press reported Aug. 22.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) head Nicole Nason said that the anti-DWI devices are "not that easy to defeat but there is a perception out there that they are." Cost concerns also have hindered adoption of ignition interlocks -- which prevent a driver with detectable alcohol in their system from starting their car -- by the criminal-justice system.

Currently, about 100,000 interlock devices are in use in the U.S., where 1.4 million people are arrested for drunk driving each year. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said 9,000 lives could be saved each year if the devices prevented anyone with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or higher from driving.

"We are really working on a vaccine for drunk driving. Not on the drunk, but on the vehicle," said Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.