Lock Out Drink Driving Campaign
Tendo has been supporting the RAC and Smart Start, Inc on a new campaign to Lock Out Drink Driving.
Tendo organised a roundtable event in Parliament to raise awareness of alcohol interlock technology (‘alcolocks’) and to encourage its inclusion as part of the UK’s preventative measures to tackle drink-driving ahead of its consultation as part of the Government’s Road Safety Strategy.
The event was well-attended by a coalition of road safety organisations, campaigners and policing representatives. The discussion was chaired by Sam Carling MP and attended by campaign supporter Lorraine Beavers MP, in addition to representation on behalf of the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Richard Holden MP, who was able to hear firsthand how this technology can save lives on UK roads.
Events and roundtables such as this are a great way to build engagement for campaigns and create noise around a campaign. As a result of this roundtable, the campaign will be going to Edinburgh to meet with the head of Road Safety at Transport Scotland to discuss how tools like alcolocks could help reduce deaths, injuries, and crashes.
About the Lock Out Drink Driving Campaign
Lock Out Drink Driving is a new campaign, calling for alcohol interlocks (“alcolocks”) to be a core part of the UK’s response to drink-driving, starting with reoffenders who pose the highest risk. The campaign’s mission is to ensure that convicted drink-drivers cannot continue to endanger others by requiring them to use alcolocks as a condition of driving. This will reduce deaths and injuries, cut reoffending, and restore public confidence that drink-driving is taken seriously and dealt with effectively.
An alcolock is a breathalyser device fitted to a vehicle’s ignition; if it detects alcohol above a set level, the vehicle will not start, with most devices requiring random retests while driving to prevent circumvention.
International data shows that alcolocks can reduce reoffending by up to 70% among both first-time and repeat offenders; however, UK courts currently have no power to order alcolocks for convicted drink-drivers, leaving a significant gap in the current enforcement and rehabilitation framework – despite the fact that studies have shown between 50–75% of convicted drink-drivers continue to drive regardless of penalties.
The campaign is calling for a phased, evidence-based UK alcolock programme: initially focusing on high-risk and repeat offenders, with a clear roadmap to extend to all drink-driving offenders over time.
To learn how we can support your campaign or parliamentary engagement activities, whether in Westminster, Holyrood or the Senedd, reach out to the Tendo team at hello@tendoconsulting.co.uk
