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

  • Copenhagen to showcase ITS in action at ITSWC 2018
    December 18, 2017
    As delegates head for the 2017 ITS World Congress in Montreal, we talk to Copenhagen mayor Morten Kabell about why his city is the ideal location for next year’s event. It may have been a long time coming but the ITS World Congress will be in Copenhagen in 2018 and there can be few more fitting places to host the event. By any number of metrics - interconnected transport, cycle commuting, safer streets, reduced pollution, sustainable energy and quality of life - the Danish capital has implemented what m
    Read More
  • Road pricing is inevitable – because the ‘user pays’ principle is fair
    June 14, 2018
    We pay for roads through our taxes: the poor pay proportionately more, and effectively subsidise the rich. It would be fairer to accept the ‘user pays’ principle, says Dr John Walker. Road pricing is already used worldwide to combat congestion and pollution, to compensate for falling revenues from fuel duty (‘gas tax’), to provide an alternative (and fairer) means of charging motorists than the 80-year old fuel tax and to improve the efficiency of and expand transport infrastructure. However, it could and s
    Read More
  • Last call for Canberra drivers
    November 23, 2022
    Australian capital aims to crack down on motorists using their phones at the wheel
    Read More
  • Driverless Russia: Look – no hands!
    March 26, 2020
    Russia is betting on the importance of driverless cars as the country’s transport system develops in the years to come.
    Read More

Highlighted Content