The national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving came to Indianapolis on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to approve mandatory ignition interlock devices for anyone caught driving drunk.

Laura Dean-Mooney’s plea came the day after the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would force second-time offenders to have an ignition interlock for six months.

An ignition interlock prevents a vehicle from starting until the driver blows into a small tube that records that person’s blood-alcohol level. If the reading is higher than 0.03, the vehicle won’t start.

Though Dean-Mooney praised House Bill 1020 as a starting point, she said she hoped it would be amended to include first-time offenders.

“(A first-time offender) had 87 chances (on average) to kill or injure . . . before they were caught the first time,” Dean-Mooney said.

In 2007, 230 people in the state were killed by drunken drivers, she said. In Indiana, a driver with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher is considered to be driving under the influence.

AAA Hoosier Motor Club spokesman Greg Seiter said that organization supports the use of ignition interlocks and that 88 percent of its members in a recent survey agreed.

“We do not believe that driver-license suspension alone will prevent convicted drunk drivers from continuing to drive,” Seiter said. “However, ignition interlocks will ensure that the drivers are at least sober when they get behind the wheel.”

Dean-Mooney tried to dispel some of the perceived problems with the devices, including cost, effectiveness and intrusiveness. She called the devices “a virtual probation officer in the front seat.”

Dean-Mooney said the proposal in its current form still wouldn’t put Indiana among states with the toughest ignition interlock laws. Seven states require the devices for first-time offenders, while six others require them if an offender has a blood-alcohol level higher than 0.15, she said.

“If we do what we have always done, we are going to get what we always got: unnecessary death and injury,” Dean-Mooney said.

HB 1020 would let a judge decide whether a first-time offender should have to install the device.

Next, the measure goes to the full House for a vote.