PHOENIX -- A tough new state DUI law takes effect today.

The law now requires first-time DUI offenders to install an ignition interlock device on their cars to prevent them from drinking and driving.

It also requires 45 days of consecutive jail time for first-time "super extreme" DUI offenders with a blood-alcohol content of .20 or higher.

Lawmakers hope that the changes result in a drop in alcohol-related fatalities.

But attorneys who defend DUI suspects say the higher stakes will lead to increased court caseloads and an extreme inconvenience in the lives of "super extreme" and first-time offenders.

In the coming year, the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division expects about 17-thousand first-time drunken drivers, all of whom will now have to pass a breath test before getting behind the wheel.

Previously, state law required only repeat drunken drivers or those convicted of extreme or aggravated DUI to use interlock devices.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)