‘Seriously drunk’ drivers to get alcohol lock on their cars
Drivers caught with the equivalent of eight to 10 beers in their system will have an alcohol lock fitted to their cars and face compulsory addiction therapy, the Telegraaf reports on Wedneday.
The paper says transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen plans to bring in the alcohol lock for drivers found with a blood alcohol level of 1.3.
At the moment the legal limit is 0.5, or 0.2 for drivers with less than five years experience.
With the lock, drivers have to blow into a small apparatus fitted to the dashboard to prove they have not been drinking before the engine will start.
Specialist help
In addition, drunk drivers who are addicted to alcohol will also have to get specialist help.
Some 200 people are killed on the Dutch roads every year in accidents involving alcohol.
The minister expects some 4,000 people a year will have the lock fitted to their cars. ‘If we would choose to take addicts licences away, the improvements in safety would be much less,’ the minister is quoted as saying.
At the moment, drivers automatically lose their licence if caught with a blood alcohol level of 1, if it is a second offence.
Trials with the alcohol lock show the reoffending is down by 75%.
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