90 per cent of the UK public ‘would support’ installation of breathalysers in cars

The UK’s biggest online garage and car repair marketplace has revealed that 90 per cent of drivers would support breathalysers installed in cars in the UK to prevent drink driving, based on research of 1,000 drivers in its database. WhoCanFixMyCar.com has revealed that, of 1,000 drivers surveyed, 903 would support the installation of breathalysers in cars, after a 7 per cent rise in accidents due to drink driving from 2015 to 2016.

The marketplace is now trying to gauge the public’s opinion on whether current laws go far enough. WhoCanFixMyCar.com states that visitors to its site can join its campaign and give their opinions on the current limits and penalties for drink driving.

After surveying its database, WhoCanFixMyCar.com found that 90 per cent of the individuals would support having breathalysers in cars to prevent drink driving and accidents caused by people under the influence, with only 97 members disagreeing.

With severe penalties already in place but not always effective, the breathalysers would ensure that only people who are under the drinking limit would be able to physically drive in the UK. Laws state that drivers that get caught driving under the influence can face a multitude of fines and charges including a minimum 12 month driving ban, unlimited fine and even a possible prison sentence and criminal record.

There were more than 6,000 accidents in 2016, due to drink driving in the UK. Resulting in more than 9,000 causalities, 1,260 serious injuries and 240 deaths.

The legal limit for drinking in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. This translates to two pints of normal-strength beer for men or a large glass of wine for women. Scotland has a separate, more stringent limit to the rest of the UK, at 50mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood.

WhoCanFixMyCar.com is an online car garage and repair marketplace connecting more than 12,000 garage and repair centres with drivers around the UK. The site has 1 million users and has recently processed more than 1.3 million quotes through the site in one month.

Al Preston, co-founder of WhoCanFixMyCar.com, said: “With Christmas on the horizon, social drinking sees an increase around this time of year and ultimately this increases the risk of drink driving on UK roads. We were interested to see from our database who would agree with car breathalysers, deciding if drivers are fit to drive or not.

“Although we were expecting to see a positive response, we were amazed to see just how many drivers would like to see the devices put in place in the UK – with over 90 per cent of our database having a positive reaction!”