RAC, police chiefs and road safety charities urge Government to act on drink-driving

Police and Crime Commissioners, Police Chiefs, the RAC and leading road safety organisations have joined forces to call on the Government to commit to introducing alcohol interlocks for high-risk and repeat drink-driving offenders.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the coalition is urging the Government to use its forthcoming response to the motoring offences consultation to set out a clear route towards an alcohol interlock – or ‘alcolock’ – programme in the UK. The intervention comes after the Government passed its own three-month timetable for publishing a summary of responses and next steps following the consultation’s closure.

Alcohol interlocks are breathalysers connected to a vehicle’s ignition. If alcohol is detected above a set threshold, the vehicle will not start. The technology is already used internationally to tackle repeat drink-driving and can be fitted to almost any vehicle.

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

The letter argues that every further delay leaves an avoidable gap in the UK’s approach to drink-driving, with courts currently unable to require convicted offenders to use an alcohol interlock when returning to the road.

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.”

The signatories are calling for courts to be given the power to require an alcohol interlock as a condition of an offender returning to driving, supported by monitoring and appropriate rehabilitation. 

Among the signatories are the RAC, Road Safety Great Britain, 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.For more details on the Lock Out Drink-Driving campaign, see https://media.rac.co.uk/lock-out-drink-drivers-campaignand https://www.lockoutdrinkdriving.org.uk.