Drunk Drivers in Md. Will Have Slain Cop's Image in Cars

The face of a police officer killed by a drunken driver will appear on ignition interlock devices installed in the vehicles of Maryland motorists convicted of a DUI. A postage stamp-sized sticker bearing Officer Noah Leotta's picture will be attached to the devices to remind drivers of the 24-year-old Montgomery County officer who was struck and killed by a drunken driver at a sobriety checkpoint in December last year, the Washington Post reports. The sticker coincides with "Noah's Law," which goes into effect Oct. 1 and is named after Leotta. the AP reports.

The law expands the requirements for convicted drunken drivers to blow into the devices to prove they haven't drunk too much alcohol before their cars will start. The devices will now be mandatory even for first offenders, reports the Baltimore Sun. The law will also significantly increase driver's license suspension periods. The driver who killed Leotta, 47-year-old Luis Reluzco, is a repeat offender who faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year. (In Thailand, drunk drivers are sent to work in hospital morgues.)