ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: What does the power company figure this nice weather is costing them? It seems to prove the axiom that "one man's meat is another man's poison.''
H.D., Roanoke
A: People in the energy business aren't worried about downsizing just yet.
This warm spell is bringing our use back to normal after a cold November and early December.
John Williamson at Roanoke Gas Co. said the company expected to end December right on target in terms of heat supplied. He was expecting to be within 1 percent to 2 percent of the normal 1,645 heating degree days over the past six months.
Degree days are a way of measuring fuel demand based on weather.
American Electric Power's Tom Ayers said that, though electricity is a weather-sensitive business, the company isn't hurting. November gave AEP a nice cushion for December's dip in demand in Virginia and West Virginia.
DUI barrier
Q: What businesses install equipment that will prevent an intoxicated person from starting an automobile?
M.G., Roanoke
A: The first contact probably should be the Maryland company that takes care of this business for Virginia's court system.
Life Sciences Corp. of Rockville, Md., telephone (301)212-9222, has put ignition interlocks on the vehicles of about a dozen drivers on probation in the Roanoke Valley in the past year, under a law passed in 1995.
Darrel Longest, president of Life Sciences, said he gets many calls from family members interested in having the device put on a car.
If the driver involved has not been charged with DUI, the device rents for $55 a month, plus a $50 installation fee.
If the driver has been charged, the rental is $60 a month ($5 of which goes to the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program for DUI offenders), and it must be arranged through the court system. It's paid for by the probationer.
Life Sciences sends a technician to do the installation and a monthly checkup.
More information is available from Jim Phipps, director of the Roanoke Valley's Court-Community Corrections Program, which works with probationers and includes VASAP. The number is (540)387-5230.
With an ignition interlock, the driver must breathe into the device before starting the car. If blood alcohol content is 0.025 or above, the car won't start.
The breathing routine is repeated every 10-15 minutes as the person drives. If a person's alcohol level rises while driving, the horn blows and the lights flash. In a few minutes the engine shuts off.
All this activity is recorded on a computer, downloaded by the technician and reported to the court monthly in probation cases.
Phipps said the interlock is more effective as part of a treatment program. The device may prevent intoxicated people from driving, but it doesn't control drinking.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Call us at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RayR@Roanoke.Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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