Alcohol interlock schemes should be rolled out across the UK
In Britain, around one in seven of all road deaths every year involve drink-drivers with the most recent Department for Transport statistics revealing that drink-driving deaths rose by 20% in 2016 to 240 casualties – the most significant year-on-year rise for over a decade. Safety campaigners are now urging the government to tackle this shocking statistic by making it compulsory for convicted drink-drivers to use alcohol interlocks – a device that is fitted to the ignition of a vehicle to prevent it from being started until a clear breath sample is given.
Often it is the innocent person who suffers, not the drink-driver – 100 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured by drink-drivers in 2016, as were 330 car passengers; and 40 children were killed or seriously injured in drink-driving accidents. The total number of collisions and accidents where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit also rose in 2016 by 6% to 6,080.
The interlock devices are already in use or being trialled in much of Europe including Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as in North America and Australia. In fact, in Australia, where interlocks have been used in the state of Victoria for 11 years, drink-drivers were prevented from starting their cars on 250,000 occasions.
Suzannah Robin is an alcohol and drug safety expert at AlcoDigital and has worked with numerous companies to address their drug and alcohol testing requirements. She is urging the UK to follow Europe’s lead. She said:
“Interlock devices are proven to reduce drink-driving incidents and have been working effectively in Europe for many years. The devices can also be programmed to require drivers to pull over and provide further samples at random points during journeys. If a positive breath test is detected, the vehicle will not start.”
In Europe, where excess alcohol contributes to a quarter of road deaths, use of interlocks is thought to be up to 95% more effective in preventing drink-drive re-offending than measures such as licence withdrawal or fines.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) reported that as many as 5,000 deaths could be prevented every year if drink-drivers in Europe were stopped from starting a vehicle. The ETSC called on member states to take steps to deal with the problem, recommending the use of alcohol interlocks.
Many European states – among them, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands – have introduced incentive programmes giving drink drivers the option to install an interlock device as a means of getting back behind the wheel before a ban has been served.
