Roadside breathalysers to tackle drink drivers in UK

The UK government has pledged £350,000 to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to run a competition for companies to develop roadside evidential breathalysers. Although drivers are currently tested at the roadside in some cases, the breath test there is only used as an indicator of wrongdoing. The government’s stated aim is to prevent offenders who are marginally over the drink-drive limit from sobering up before reaching the police station where they are tested for evidence in court.
June 12, 2018 Read time: 1 min
The UK government has pledged £350,000 to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to run a competition for companies to develop roadside evidential breathalysers.


Although drivers are currently tested at the roadside in some cases, the breath test there is only used as an indicator of wrongdoing. The government’s stated aim is to prevent offenders who are marginally over the drink-drive limit from sobering up before reaching the police station where they are tested for evidence in court.  

Companies will submit proposed technologies that calculate the amount the amount of ethanol in exhaled breath. The device is expected to be available for police to use by summer 2020.

Enforcement

Related Content

  • Ordnance Survey to provide geospatial data for OmniCAV project, UK
    August 30, 2018
    Ordnance Survey (OS) will provide geospatial data to support the OmnviCAV project’s ambition of accelerating the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the UK’s roads. The £3.9m initiative’s aim is to develop an artificial intelligence-based simulation model for testing autonomous cars safety. The simulation model will feature a 32km circuit of Oxfordshire roads, covering rural, urban, main roads and intersections and will be used to create and run different test scenarios. OS’s role includ
    Read More
  • Singapore plans changes to transit system
    June 13, 2018
    Singapore has the third-highest population density in the world and the numbers are continuing to grow. The government knows that transit is vital: David Crawford investigates the city state’s Smart Nation strategy. Transport is the most important of the five domains identified as the pillars of Singapore's far-reaching Smart Nation strategy, launched in November 2014 by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong with the aim of reaching fulfilment by 2024. Roads account for 12% of the island republic's 719km2 land ar
    Read More
  • Smarter transport remains key to smart cities
    January 9, 2018
    Colin Sowman looks at some of the challenges and solutions that will provide enhanced transport efficiency in tomorrow’s smarter cities. However you define a ‘smart city’, one of the key ingredients will be an efficient transport system. As most governments and city authorities face financial constraints, incremental improvements in the existing systems is the most likely way forward. In London, new trains and signalling are improving the capacity of the Underground but that then reveals previously
    Read More
  • UK motorists ‘relax attitudes’ on distracted driving
    September 15, 2016
    Research for the RAC’s Report on Motoring 2016 has revealed that for some, attitudes towards handheld mobile use have worryingly relaxed over the last two years. The proportion of people who feel it is acceptable to take a quick call on a handheld phone has doubled from seven per cent in 2014 to 14 per cent in 2016 and the percentage of drivers who feel it is safe to check social media on their phone when in stationary traffic, either at traffic lights or in congestion, has increased from 14 per cent in
    Read More

Highlighted Content