Privilege Urges Government To Get Tough On Drink Driving
Published: 8th March 2006
'Alcolocks' should be compulsory for drink drive offenders, says insurer
Privilege Insurance has pledged its support for the introduction of Alcohol Ignition Locks (AILs) for convicted drink drivers. Privilege, which specialises in insuring safe drivers, is urging the Government to strengthen the measures contained in the Road Safety Bill to make the fitting of an AIL (or 'alcolock') compulsory for a minimum of six months, following the completion of a ban for drink driving.
One fifth of all motorists convicted for drink driving every year are re-offenders.
The AIL system, which is currently being researched by the Department for Transport, sees a breath-testing device fitted to the ignition of a driver's vehicle. The device prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver has consumed alcohol - and is set at a level four times stricter than the legal limit.
The Road Safety Bill provides for the future use of the AIL system, and would give Courts the power to order that, after an initial period of disqualification of no less than a year, offenders would be able to drive during the latter part of their disqualification period if they agree to fit an 'alcolock' and pay the cost themselves. But Privilege believes the Government should go further.
Ian Parker, Managing Director of Privilege Insurance, commented:
"If the pilot schemes in Bristol and Birmingham are successful, we would like to see the fitting of an 'alcolock' made compulsory for drink drive offenders. It should not be used as a fast-track route back onto the roads for disqualified drivers, but instead used as a tool to check the alarming rate of re-offending."
Privilege also believes that Parliament should consider revisiting the Court of Appeal's decision to reduce the rehabilitation period for drink drivers from 11 years to five.
Ian Parker continued:
"Reducing the rehabilitation period appears to be completely at odds with the Government's agenda to actively deter drink driving. As a result of the Court's changes, if a person was involved in a serious accident, convicted of Drink Driving and banned for three years, they would only have to declare the accident and conviction for two years following the ban. We believe that if the Government wants to send a strong message to drink drivers, then it should legislate so that they have to declare the conviction for a far longer period than at present."
Privilege is also advocating test retakes for anyone convicted of drink driving or banned for a period of more than 12 months.
Ian Parker concluded:
"It is anomalous for a newly qualified driver to have to retake their test if they accumulate more than six points in the first two years of driving, yet a driver banned for more than 12 months is allowed to continue driving after a period of disqualification with no further testing. This anomaly should be addressed to ensure fairness, as well as testing the skills of motorists who have a track record of unsafe driving."
Privilege research has revealed that nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of drivers claim to drive after drinking above the legal limit. This indicates that nationally over 7 million motorists could be taking the wheel under the influence. Nearly one in twenty (4 per cent) admit they have driven after drinking over 10 units of alcohol - which equates to over five pints of beer.
Privilege specialises in offering highly competitive insurance for safe drivers, with a guarantee to beat renewal quotes for any driver with 4 years + no claims discount.
