Alcohol interlocks excluded from government proposals
The RAC has expressed disappointment that the government will not mandate alcohol interlocks as standard.
The government announced last week that it would make 18 vehicle safety technologies mandatory on mass-produced vehicles in Great Britain.
However, it has not included alcohol interlocks despite saying it would consult on their introduction as part of its Road Safety Strategy.
This comes after previous RAC research found that 82% of drivers in the UK support the introduction of alcohol interlocks, prevent vehicles from being started or driven if alcohol is detected in the driver’s breath.
Disappointing
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “Given the government has also consulted on introducing an alcohol interlocks programme for drink-drivers as part of its consultation on the Road Safety Strategy, it’s disappointing it’s decided that alcolock interfaces shouldn’t have to be fitted to vehicles as standard.
“Nonetheless, just as many safety technologies like Intelligent Speed Assistance are already fitted to vehicles sold in the UK, it’s likely many future vehicles sold here will include alcolock interfaces anyway. This is because manufacturers often sell the same models both in the UK and in the EU, where alcolock interfaces are mandatory, to keep production costs down.
“This is not about alcolocks being fitted to all vehicles, it’s about making it easier to get these devices put in the vehicles of repeat drink-drive offenders so they can’t get behind the wheel drunk again. RAC research shows there is strong support among drivers for alcolocks being used in this way.”
