Road safety organisations unite to call upon Government intervention

Police and crime commissioners, police chiefs, the RAC and leading road safety organisations are jointly calling on the Government to introduce alcohol interlocks for repeat and high-risk drink-driving offenders.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the coalition urges the Government to use its forthcoming response to the motoring offences consultation to set out a clear path towards a UK alcohol interlock, or ‘alcolock’, programme. The call follows the Government’s failure to meet its own three-month deadline for publishing a summary of consultation responses and next steps.

Alcohol interlocks are breathalysers linked to a vehicle’s ignition. The vehicle will not start if alcohol is detected above a set limit. Already used internationally to tackle repeat drink-driving, the technology can be fitted to almost any vehicle.

The DfT estimates that drink-drive collisions in Great Britain killed 220 people and seriously injured more than 1,500 in 2024. International evidence suggests alcohol interlocks can cut reoffending by up to 70%, while RAC polling shows that 82% of UK drivers support their use for repeat and high-risk offenders.

The letter warns that continued delay leaves an avoidable gap in the UK’s response to drink-driving because courts cannot currently require convicted offenders to use an alcohol interlock when they return to the road.

Simon Williams, RAC head of policy, said: “Drink-driving remains one of the most preventable causes of death and serious injury on our roads. Alcolocks physically prevent someone from driving after drinking, and there is strong public support for requiring repeat or high-risk offenders to fit them before they can 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 passed, and every further delay risks more preventable harm on our roads.”

“As mayor of Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister supported Vision Zero’s ambition that no one should be killed or suffer life-changing injuries on our roads. We are asking him to apply that ambition nationwide by committing to a mandatory alcohol interlock programme for repeat and high-risk offenders.”

The signatories want courts to be able to make an alcohol interlock, alongside monitoring and appropriate rehabilitation, a condition of an offender’s return to driving.

Signatories include the RAC, Road Safety GB, Brake, 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.