Car accident news

US drink-drivers face in-car breathalyser tests

Campaigners in the United States are attempting to cut the number of car accidents by insisting that all convicted drink-drivers pass an in-car breath test before switching on the ignition.

The state of New Mexico introduced the initiative a year ago and anyone found guilty of drink-driving now has to use a breathalyser that will automatically disable the engine if it detects alcohol.

Such was the success of the scheme that car accidents have been significantly reduced and the last twelve months have seen an 11.3% decrease in alcohol-linked deaths in the state.

Seeing the positive results of the New Mexico scheme, Mothers Against Drink Driving (MADD), a nationwide charity, have called upon the US Government to implement in-car breathalysers across the country.

Glynn Birch, president of MADD, told reporters, "The real possibility of eliminating drunk driving in this country is a powerful, even audacious, idea. Yet the tools are now at hand."

Drink-driving car accident deaths and serious personal injuries in the US have fallen by almost 40% since the 1980s but more than 1,000 people a month still lose their lives because of alcohol.