Drink-drivers adopting interlock device

More than 200 serious and repeat drink-drivers have been sentenced to having a device fitted to their car which prevents it from starting if alcohol is detected on their breath since new laws came into force last year.

Alcohol interlock sanctions became available to the courts on September 10 last year as a sentencing option for repeat drink-drive offenders and for first-time offenders convicted of driving with blood-alcohol levels double the adult limit.

Following a mandatory three-month disqualification, offenders with an interlock disqualification are able to apply for an alcohol interlock licence - restricting them to driving vehicles with an interlock device fitted.

Offenders have to pay to have the devices fitted to their vehicles and for monitoring - up to a total of $2700.

So far, 242 alcohol interlock sentences have been handed down by the courts to 220 offenders, with 77 interlock licences issued by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

Of the 77 offenders who have received interlock licences, 68 have had interlocks fitted to their vehicles.

NZTA road safety director Ernst Zollner said interlocks and zero-alcohol licences were part of a concerted effort to reduce deaths and injuries caused by drink-drivers.

"Every year dozens of innocent road users are killed or seriously injured because of the reckless behaviour and poor decisions of people who drink too much and get behind the wheel," Mr Zollner said.

The same legislation gave courts the power to impose zero-alcohol sanctions on serious and repeat offenders, requiring drivers to maintain a zero alcohol limit for a fixed period of three years.

Since September 10, 2012, more than 3800 zero-alcohol sanctions have been handed down and 171 zero-alcohol licences have been issued.

Associate Transport Minister Michael Woodhouse said although it was too early to evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation, a review of the policy is due next year.

Overall, the number of serious crashes with drink-drivers had dropped in recent years and 2013 was on course to have the lowest road toll in more than 50 years, he said. APNZ