A growing coalition in the United Kingdom is calling for mandatory alcohol interlock technology for repeat and high-risk drink-driving offenders. In a letter sent to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on 16 April 2026, the Lock Out Drink-Driving Campaign and several road safety organisations urged the Government to move forward with court-ordered alcolock programmes as part of the new Road Safety Strategy. Their message is simple: repeat drink-driving remains a serious and persistent problem, and current penalties are not doing enough to stop offenders from getting back behind the wheel.

Alcohol interlocks, often called alcolocks, are breath-testing devices connected to a vehicle’s ignition system. If alcohol is detected above a set limit, the engine will not start. Campaigners argue that this is one of the most practical tools available to prevent repeat offending. International evidence from countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and several European states has shown that these programmes can reduce reoffending by as much as 70 percent, making them far more than a symbolic measure.

The campaign is also grounding its call in the scale of harm still seen on UK roads. RAC analysis of DVLA data found that more than 27,000 people were convicted of drink-driving multiple times in the eleven years leading up to July 2024. At the same time, government figures for 2023 show that drink-driving continues to cause devastating consequences, with an estimated 260 deaths and more than 1,500 serious injuries linked to collisions involving a driver over the legal alcohol limit. International research also suggests that many disqualified drink-drivers continue to drive illegally, which further weakens the effect of licence bans on their own.

What makes this latest push significant is that it brings together campaigners, road safety groups, parliamentarians, and policing voices around a concrete legislative demand. The UK Government is currently consulting on its Road Safety Strategy, including possible measures on alcohol interlock technology, with the consultation open until 11 May 2026. For supporters of the proposal, this is a key moment to turn long-standing evidence into policy, and to make alcohol interlocks a mandatory response for those offenders who continue to put other road users at risk.

Find more from Lock Out Drink Driving campaign (UK, 2026)