It could be just a matter of months before Noah's Law supporters are celebrating a victory in the state. They have said they know the law will save lives.
"The whole purpose of Noah's Law is to get as many drunk drivers on the ignition interlock as possible," said Delegate Ben Kramer, District 19 of Montgomery County.
Right now a convicted drunk driver's blood alcohol content has to be .15 or above for them to be forced into the Ignition Interlock Program, which requires participants to blow into a device that calculates their alcohol level. If it exceeds the accepted level on the device the car doesn't start.
Noah's Law changes that to include all drunk drivers above the legal limit of .08.
Not only that, but suspected drunk drivers who refuse to take a breathalyzer are also included.
"The idea there is to take away the incentive to refuse. And that's been the problem. Right now the incentive has been on the other side and people are incentivized to refused," Kramer said.
For Lisa Spicknall, State Program Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, it has been a long week of meetings in Annapolis. However, she said it has been an even longer road to get where they stand through a second reader and on the way to the third reader next week.
"We've been actually fighting for an all offender interlock program from a .08 up for the past almost eight years," Spicknall told ABC2.
She said there has always been public support for the proposed bill but the death of officer Noah Leotta has garnered even more. The Montgomery county police officer died in December after he was hit by a suspected drunk driver.
Spicknall said when, not if, the law passes, Maryland will be the 26th state in the country with this kind of law.
"We have a model program here in Maryland already. By adding more people to that, we're just going to save more lives," Spicknall said.
President of the Senate Mike Miller and Governor Larry Hogan have said they are in favor of the bill.
