ALCOHOL INTERLOCK DEVICE

This fantastic new road safety measure should not be used as a punishment but should be fitted to every car on the road.

This is a positive that we are turning into a negative.

 These devices are ground-breaking in the fight for road safety and if used as a positive will have as big an impact on road trauma as seat belts and random breath testing did.

It would save the enormous problem of getting to and from where drivers need to be at times where public transport isn’t available or practical.

 If a driver has miscalculated how much they have had to drink then it doesn’t mean they cannot get home, it just means they have to stay a little longer until the alcohol has left their system.

 Unless the driver has had complete disregard for the drink/drug driving laws then it wouldn’t be a long wait.

What could be simpler?

This device would prevent arrogant recidivist drink drivers from risking other road users lives.

The ongoing monitoring of these devices would be well and truly covered by the savings in the cost of road trauma and court time.

The money saved by the government on the cost of road trauma would be significant.

The cost of the heartache and pain these drivers cause when they crash their cars and kill innocent people is immeasurable.

It can be prevented.

The following is part of an article about acceptance of Alcohol Interlock Device  By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY in 2006

It highlights the advancement and questions the acceptance of the devices in the USA.

"Swedish brands Volvo, owned by Ford, and Saab, owned by GM, are at the forefront of auto industry efforts to incorporate interlocks into cars. Swedish regulators are expected to soon propose a deadline of 2012 for all cars in that country to have alcohol interlocks.

Volvo's Alcolock — which is built into the seat belt buckle — will likely be available as an option on cars in Sweden within three years. Saab's Alcokey has the technology built into the key.

For automakers, anything that keeps a car from starting sounds too much like the public relations nightmare that came out of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 1973 decision to require devices that would prevent cars from starting if seat belts weren't buckled. After a huge public outcry and widespread disconnections, Congress passed a law the following year prohibiting NHTSA from requiring seat belt interlocks or warning buzzers lasting more than eight seconds.

Some critics say alcohol-related interlocks would be even more problematic than seat belt interlocks because about 40% of adults say they don't drink at all. MADD's Hurley says most people don't steal or have their cars stolen, but keys still have built-in anti-theft technology.

Ortiz agrees: "This is a tool that will save lives. We have to stop putting parameters on it."

http://www.answers.com/topic/breath-alcohol-ignition-interlock-device