Mothers Against Drunk Driving yesterday asked state legislators to require that convicted drunken drivers install a breath-testing device in their cars that would prevent them from driving after drinking.

"We realize that we have to do something new and use technology to promote safer, sober driving," Leah Marx, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hawaii, said at a hearing by the House Transportation Committee.

MADD's Hawaii chapter said the technology will be the centerpiece of legislation they hope to help introduce to curb impaired driving. Anti-drunken-driving advocates are poised to introduce at least four bills this year at the Legislature, Marx said.

On O'ahu last year, citations for drunken driving hit an eight-year high of 3,622. Of the 68 traffic fatalities on O'ahu last year, 23 involved alcohol.

The breath-testing device has a handheld unit with a tube that the driver blows into. If the device detects alcohol over a certain level, the car will not start. It also takes a picture of the driver taking the test and sends data to a law enforcement database. The device costs $70 to $75 a month to install and maintain.

The House Republican caucus yesterday announced it will introduce two bills this session that will seek to "take on an even more aggressive approach towards encouraging safer driving habits," a news release said.

"Drunk driving ruins lives, drunk driving ends lives," said House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa). "We have seen a steady increase in the number of DUI arrests since 2002. Unfortunately, the number of deaths due to DUI in 2007 will eclipse those in 2006. These senseless deaths need to stop."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.