Topeka ? Most Kansas residents convicted of multiple drunken-driving offenses haven’t followed through on a requirement to get a device on their vehicles that keeps them from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.

That has prompted some people who install the devices to seek improved enforcement of the four-year old law.

“If there was any other law where people didn’t follow state regulations there would be a mass uprising,” said Matt Strausz, general manager of the Smart Start company, which installs interlock devices in the Topeka area.

Strausz and Toby Taylor, of Guardian Interlock Systems in Oklahoma City, want the Legislature to adopt a bill requiring people to provide the Kansas motor vehicle division with documentation that a breath-testing device was installed in a vehicle before a license is reinstated.

Currently, people convicted of a second, third or fourth drunken-driving offense have their licenses suspended for a year. After serving the suspension, the offenders can obtain a one-year restricted license to drive vehicles equipped with an interlock device.

According to the Department of Revenue, compliance has ranged from 11 percent in 2002 to 32 percent in 2003. Last year, less than 18 percent of 1,736 people convicted of a second, third or fourth drunken-driving offense added the ignition interlock device to their vehicle.

A fifth drunken-driving conviction results in permanent revocation of driving privileges.

Under the bill, people who did not provide the state with proof of installation of the testing device would have a second year added to the suspension of their license.

The House has passed the bill, which is being reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

However, Marcy Ralston, chief of the Revenue Department’s driver control bureau said the bill could be viewed as requiring people to buy a vehicle to be equipped with the ignition interlock device before their driving privileges are reinstated. “There is no other Kansas law that requires a person to make that type of purchase to reinstate their driving privileges,” she said.

But Taylor said people convicted of driving under the influence could have a relative or friend’s vehicle equipped with the device. Installation costs about $60, he said, and the rental fee is between $60 and $70 per month.

“It’s about $2 a day,” he said. “It’s about the cost of a mixed drink and less than a pack of cigarettes.”

The Transportation Department had been worried proposed changes could lead to the state no longer being in compliance with federal requirements on drunken drivers, said Terry Heidner, the agency’s director of planning and development.

However, the bill was amended in a way to avoid that.

“KDOT’s interest in this bill is simply that it not take us out of compliance with federal requirements, which cause the loss of $7 million per year for highway construction requirements,” Heidner said.