Smart Start, Inc.


Smart Start, Inc. is a Texas company that provides services and technologies that prevent intoxicated drivers from operating a vehicle. Smart Start, Inc. manufactures, installs, monitors and services the ignition interlock devices. In almost all cases, these devices are installed by court order due to DUI or DWI violations.
Smart Start, Inc. was founded in 1993 by Jay and Bettye Rodgers and is headquartered in Irving, Texas. In 2016 the company filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota DPS. The company alleges that the use of GPS trackers to track persons convicted of DUI violates the Fourth Amendement.
Smart Start claims to have installed over 200,000 ignition interlock devices and reports that these devices have prevented over 7 million vehicle starts due to potential drivers being over the approved limit. The devices are in use in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Mandatory installation

Beginning in 2018, drivers convicted of DUI in Nevada are only eligible for reinstatement of driving privileges if they install an ignition interlock for 90 days after an arrest and for 6 months after a conviction.