ALCOHOL INTERLOCKS: Drink-drive crackdown could demand breath tests before offenders can start their cars

Police chiefs, Police and Crime Commissioners, the RAC and leading road safety organisations have called on the Government to introduce mandatory alcohol interlocks for motorists convicted of serious or repeated drink-driving offences.

The coalition wants ministers to use their response to the motoring offences consultation to establish a route towards an alcohol interlock programme in the UK. It said the Government had passed its own three-month timetable for publishing a summary of consultation responses and outlining its next steps.

Alcohol interlocks, commonly known as alcolocks, connect a breath-testing device to a vehicle’s ignition. The vehicle cannot be started when the device detects alcohol above a specified threshold. The equipment can be installed in most vehicles and is already used in several overseas jurisdictions to manage convicted drink-drivers.

Department for Transport estimates cited by the RAC show that 220 people were killed and more than 1,500 seriously injured in drink-drive collisions across Great Britain during 2024. International evidence suggests that interlocks can reduce reoffending by as much as 70%.

Public support also appears strong. RAC polling found that 82% of UK drivers backed the introduction of alcohol interlocks for repeat and high-risk offenders.

Under the proposal, courts would be given the power to make an alcohol interlock a condition of an offender regaining the right to drive. Its use would be supported by monitoring arrangements and suitable rehabilitation programmes.

The measure could have particular consequences for professional drivers, including taxi and private hire licence holders. A drink-driving conviction will already affect whether a licensing authority considers a driver to be fit and proper, while an interlock requirement could add another enforceable condition before an offender is permitted to return to licensed or other occupational driving.

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However, details including who would pay for installation, calibration and monitoring have not yet been set out. Any future scheme would also need procedures covering shared vehicles, fleet vehicles, attempted circumvention and the consequences of a failed breath test.

Signatories to the open letter include the RAC, Brake, Road Safety Great Britain, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, the Road Safety Foundation, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, National Police Chiefs’ Council Roads Policing and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The organisations argue that courts currently lack the power to require convicted motorists to use an interlock when they return to the road. They want the Government to close that enforcement gap as part of its forthcoming response to the motoring offences consultation.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Drink-driving remains one of the most preventable causes of death and serious injury on our roads.

“Alcolocks physically stop someone from driving after drinking, and there is strong public support for repeat or high-risk offenders having to have them fitted to their vehicles before being allowed to drive again. The Government said it would set out its next steps within three months of the Road Safety Strategy consultation closing. That deadline has now passed, and every further delay means more preventable harm on our roads.

“As Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister backed the ambition of Vision Zero – that nobody should be killed or suffer life-changing injuries on our roads. We are asking him to bring that same ambition to the whole country and commit to a mandatory alcohol interlock programme for high-risk and repeat offenders.”