The car won’t start if the driver is drunk L'Echo Tuesday and De Tijd reported on Tuesday (6 December) that transport minister François Bellot is preparing a bill that will impose an alcolock in cars of drivers who repeatedly have been driving when drunk or have caused an accident under the influence of alcohol.
The alcolock is a device that prevents the vehicle engine from starting if the breath alcohol concentration is above a preset limit.
This measure is already available to judges but seldom used. The minister wants the judges to impose the installation of an alcolock to drivers with a blood alcohol level of 1,2g / 1,000.
Bellot noted the negative effect on working life of the increasing withdrawal of driving licenses and the fact that judges do not offer alcolock as an alternative.
"It would, in my opinion, be much smarter to tell people: you were sentenced to a significant sentence because you were in a state of alcohol intoxication and caused an accident. But socially or professionally, the withdrawal of driving licenses can have very serious consequences, so we impose an alternative instead - the alcolock," he explains.
The new tightening measures are expected to take effect in the summer of 2017.
The Brussels Times
