Drink-drive deaths and injuries are a major concern to the European Parliament as 10,000 people a year die as a result of drink-driving.
Organisations such as the European Transport Safety Council www.etsc.be have been working actively with European MPs to introduce new safety standards.
The development and use of Alcolocks has progressed fast in Europe, to the point of the establishment of a Cenelec (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) committee dedicated to controlling standards for Alcolocks throughout Europe.
The Swedish Government in particular have been a big promoter of Alcolocks to combat the effects of drink-driving and have introduced well publicised legislation as follows:-
| 2007 | Recommended that all driving schools and taxi firms have alcolocks |
| 2010 | Legislation for all buses and lorries to be fitted with alcolocks |
| 2012 | Legislation for all new vehicles to be fitted with alcolocks |
Drink-drive rehabilitation pilot schemes are running in various countries and commercial alcolocks are now being promoted in Finland, Norway, Hungary, Holland, Germany and France.
Driving whilst under the influence of alcohol contributes annually to at least 10,000 deaths on EU roads. In the EU as a whole, around 1% of journeys are associated with an illegal Blood Alcohol Limit (BAC) (ERSO 2006). National data show that in average 15%of fatalities are due to alcohol impairment of a driver. If the number of alcohol impaired drivers dropped to zero, some 6,800 lives could be saved, representing 16% of road deaths.
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Spanish Drink Driving Factsheet |
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