Automotive

France's bold drink driving legislation - every car to carry a breathalyzer

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Future generations will no doubt wonder at the carnage we have allowed to develop on our roads
France's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
India's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
The U.K.'s road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
The United States' road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
South Africa's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Russia's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Canada's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
China's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Germany's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Australia's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Brazil's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Indonesia's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Italy's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Vietnam's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Thailand's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
The Philippines' road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
Malaysia's road safety profile from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.
A comparison between the road safety profiles of France and three of its neighbours.
A comparison between the road safety profiles of four former British colonies.
Future generations will no doubt wonder at the carnage we have allowed to develop on our roads
The powerful and growing BRIC countries compared
Several large Asian countries compared
http://www.gizmag.com/the-most-harmful-drugs-in-common-usage/16811/
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It is a great irony that alcohol should be legislated into becoming man's most commonly used recreational drug, as it's the ONLY drug that causes more harm to others than to the user.

This is most evident on our roads, where even in first world countries with low road tolls, alcohol still accounts for between a third and a half of road deaths. Now France is to attempt a novel solution - from July of this year, it will become law in France to have a working breathalyzer in every car on the road, with enforcement beginning November 1.

It may sound extreme, but the world is fast running out of tolerance for the massive global road toll in general and the part of the road toll directly related to alcohol in particular.

A 2006 report entitled Alcohol in Europe by Anderson and Baumberg estimated the cost of alcohol-related harm to the EU's economy at EUR125 billion in 2003. At the time, that was the equivalent of 1.3% of GDP for the entire Union. That's a high price to pay, particularly if alcohol is not your poison of choice.

The total was derived by including all factors, including losses due to under performance at work, absenteeism, premature death ... not just road deaths.

This article focuses on drink driving - the part of the road toll which would disappear if people did not drink alcohol then drive cars. In the broader context of suitable drugs to legalise for public consumption, it must be said that alcohol is the least suitable of all drugs as more harm is done to others than to the user.

Check out this remarkable insight into scientific research done into the real harm drugs cause, done without the meddling of Government and the alcohol lobby.

http://www.gizmag.com/the-most-harmful-drugs-in-common-usage/16811/

There are many ways of measuring the fiscal impact of the road toll - most Asian countries are estimated to spend between 2 - 3% of GDP just on the medical aspects of their growing road toll. That's more than the amount of aid they get from foreign countries. It is an epidemic that if it were cal

It's a bit harder to measure the misery and hardship caused by road trauma.

As a rule of thumb, for every one road death there will be somewhere between 20 and 100 seriously injured people, though this ratio varies depending on the ratio of cars, motorcycles and pushbikes.

There are 1.3 million deaths each year, and around 50 million people seriously injured. The people who are getting killed and injured are the most active, the young, the most productive members of our society, and the resultant mass misery from a global road toll of 1.3 million human beings a year is worth contemplating.

So cutting the road toll is becoming an important election cry, partly because public sentiment is shifting, and partly because it makes economic sense to reduce needless overheads.

At some time around a century or more ago, it seems the public accepted road trauma as the inevitable cost of having a motorized personal transport system - that perception appears to be changing, and it seems inevitable that the penalties for those who do not respect the safety of others on public roads will become ever harsher from this point forth.

That's fair! The roads are there to facilitate public transportation. Using them to put other innocent road users at risk is unacceptable behavior, and drinking and driving does just that. Indeed, the propensity of human beings to take risks increases dramatically with alcohol intake over 0.04% and those risks are being undertaken on public roads and killing innocents.

The French road safety push

The French Government may have been a bit late in fully embracing the concept of road safety, but its spectacular rise towards world's best practice from its former mediocrity indicates that France now means business. Little more than a decade ago, France had one of the worst fatality rates in the civilized world. Since 2001 though, it has systematically worked its road toll downwards with legislation and logical safety measures aimed at reducing speed.

Its diligence has seen it reduce fatality rates every year for a decade to the point where it now has one of the safest road systems in the world.

Lives are still being lost though, and President Sarkozy, with an election looming, has promised to reduce the road toll significantly again by targeting drink driving.

France's culture has been so strongly linked with the taking of wine with midday and evening meals though, that despite exceeding world's best practice in every area other than alcohol, it has maintained a much higher rate of alcohol involvement in fatal accidents than its major European neighbors.

So now Sarkosy is targeting drink driving, and he wants to save another 1000 lives a year - the aim is from the current 4000+ road deaths a year, to 3000 a year in short order.

The numbers support him. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) put the proportion of UK road deaths attributable to alcohol at 17%, Germany at 12% and France at 27% - if Sarkozy could stop drink driving entirely in France (reenacting the parting of the Red Sea might be easier), they will indeed, save over 1000 lives a year in France alone.

A comparison between the road safety profiles of France and three of its neighbours.

Police will begin issuing fines in France from the beginning of November, and it's interesting that the required "kit" includes not just a working breathalyzer, but a range of accessories that we should, as good citizens, always carry on board a car anyway: a first aid kit, fire extinguisher and and spare bulbs for both headlights and blinkers.

Also compulsory fare will be a warning triangle and a fluorescent safety vest carried inside the car for every vehicle occupant. Failure to comply will cost another EUR90.

Last month, the French authorities also introduced a new law banning satellite navigation systems that show the location of speed cameras, and are apparently very keen on plans to track speeding vehicles by satellite.

The authorities are being very clear to the French road user that it is no longer acceptable to have a vehicle that is even temporarily unroadworthy and at the same time defining the limits of the law - the Government is emphasizing the dangers of public roads and ensuring its citizens meet their obligations.

As far as the breathalyzer required by French authorities, a US$2.00 disposable item will be acceptable, but already everyone is being encouraged to buy such items in pairs so that one can be used to test, or for a friend to use, and still to have the required one to drive home with.

In all likelihood, reusable digital breathalysers will become standard fare when drinkers realize they are paying $2 every time the go for a drink.

The French alcohol allowance is 0.05% blood alcohol content which is far less than in many other countries, even neighboring countries. Deux vins or trois bières and you're approaching the limit.

Regular self-testing must surely become habit for all recreational drinkers, because the laws are slowly closing in as well. Drivers found with more than 50 mg and less than 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood can be fined EUR135 and they will lose six of the 12 points of a clean driving license. Two offenses will cancel your license - less than an other countries. Beyond 80 mg of alcohol, it's a minefield, with fines up to EUR4,500, the loss of license and prison sentences of up to two years available.

The benefits of self-monitoring

Hopefully, it will work, but the area I'm tipping will bring an even great understanding about our relationship with alcohol is the sudden focus on actually measuring what we drink and what the legal readings would be.A few years ago, we ran an interesting experiment with a digital breathalyzer at Gizmag - I took it down to my local and tested an array of people about their perceptions of how much they thought they had drunk, and what the breathalyzer said.

Based on what I learned from the breathalyzer, I am certain that integrating a breathalyzer into anyone's lifestyle, will be enlightening and at the same time help them to regulate and monitor their risk taking.

The breathalyzer laws in France will be strictly enforced, with lots of spot checks and failure to provide a working breathalyzer when requested by a traffic policeman will attract a fine of EUR11.00 (US$14).

The idea is that every time a French driver gets in their car after having a drink, they will have a device with which to test if their blood alcohol content is over the mandated blood alcohol limit for driving in the country - 0.05%.

With drink driving penalties being so much more costly than the "no breathalyzer" fine, the idea is that drivers will inevitably self-test before driving, even if they then risk a fine for no breathalyzer at a spot check - at least they'll be under the limit.

France is the first country to enact such legislation and when the new laws come into effect on November 1, the world will be watching to see what happens to the road toll. The expected vigorous enforcement of the law will naturally bring such a focus on drink driving in France that the toll will trend down.

If the toll stays down, which means the new legislation is saving lives, the law might well be something that's tried in your neck of the woods.

The saddest irony of all

The world is starting to realize that the 1.3 million lives lost each year (and growing), is totally unnecessary, and France's novel way of ensuring everyone has a way of checking their legal ability to drive might prove to be effective enough for the same laws to be considered everywhere else.That's because the world is beginning to rail against the enormous burden of the road toll on society, and in particular on the people who perpetrate it.

If these measures don't have the desired effect, then there may even be a push for the zero tolerance approach.

The saddest irony of all is that by world standards, France is one of the top 5% of countries in terms of road safety standards ... and it might still save 1000 lives next year alone with not unreasonable demands on the public or its lifestyle.

A comparison between the road safety profiles of four former British colonies.

These new laws are designed to significantly reduce France's high rate of alcohol involvement in accidents - 28% - COMPARED TO ITS NEIGHBORS.

France already compares favorably with Canada (30%), Australia (31%) and America (39%), and even these countries are still in the top echelon of best practice road safety.

Beyond Northern Europe and North America, the standard of roads declines dramatically, the levels of respect for drink driving laws quickly declines to zero. If the world's roads were as safe as French roads, it would save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

In many countries there is no policing of the drink driving laws, and remarkably, there are countries that still don't have any laws governing the use of alcohol at all. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, bus and truck drivers routinely smoke hash.

Imagine how many lives could be saved every year if something were done?

The World Health Organisation did just that when launching its Decade of Action for Road Safety initiative.

All of the country fact sheets used in this story and in the image archive are drawn from the WHO Global Status Report on road safety.

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17 comments
Derek Howe
lol, sucks to be a Frenchmen.
goodbye freedom.
Carlos Grados
This is a really important step in protecting people from people who drink and drive. I am happy to see France step up and take care of this avoidable and preventable problem.
PrometheusGoneWild.com
If they lowered the speed limit to 25MPH and put governors on every car they would save MILLIONS of people! When will the world wake up and realize driving fast in your car cost lives and puts a burden on the state. All you people who want to tool around in your cars at 55 are death mongers who are deaf to the toll speeding cars places on society...... Of course bicycles, skate boards and roller blades can go faster than 25, so everyone will have to have a GPS bracelet strapped to their leg. And there should be roadblocks every few kilometers to make sure the car governors are not tampered with or people have removed their leg bracelets.
Wombat56
According to their chart, France only scores 4 out of 10 for enforcement of blood alcohol driving levels.
Putting a lot more cops on the road at breath testing stations might be cheaper, and in the short term more profitable to the French government.
Mel Tisdale
With many year's experience in vehicle research, I am the last one to rail against drink-driving. However, what we really need is a more technologically informed legislature. Consider what is already possible given the political will:
Sat Navs automatically updated with mapping and road work/diversions, plus traffic conditions on a minute by minute basis. Part of this updating would be speed limits for wherever the vehicle is, including temporary ones determined by road accidents etc. and even for car parks. Instantaneous traffic light status could be transmitted to road vehicles and even location of all vehicles in the vicinity so that overtaking etc. can be negotiated safely. From this, all that is needed is vehicles to have a fly-by-wire throttle (common in many vehicles in production today). Some vehicles are even fitted with automatic braking. With electric cars it is even possible to have the throttle as an on/off switch.
Link all that information into a car's control electronics and it would be very difficult to crash a motor car by accident. For instance, it would be impossible to jump traffic lights, emerge from a junction until it was safe to do so; any deviation from the traffic lane when it would be unsafe would be conveyed to the driver, such as by vibrating the steering wheel up and down, thus waking any driver who has dozed off. (This mechanism could also be used as an enhancement to following sat nav directions.)
The above is only an indication of what is possible. If vehicles are made safer, it would be possible to consider relaxing the drink driving laws for drivers of vehicles so equipped. Part of life's enjoyment is having a drink with friends. Unfortunately, the combination of draconian drink-driving laws in some countries and cheap alcohol in supermarkets has led to drinking in the home and that is causing a significant rise in drink problems with, as with drink driving, associated other people being harmed. Instead of it being other road users and pedestrians, it is the spouses and children that end up in hospital or the morgue.
I forgot one other essential piece of equipment: gaffer tape to put over the mouths of motoring correspondents, who almost universally have yet to catch up with the fact that the world is changing and leaving them behind. Peak oil, climate change and an aging population are the factors that are going to dictate motor vehicle development, along with some prodding from those politicians brave enough to reflect the needs of the whole population instead of those of the over-grown children among us. It will not be based on how quickly any given vehicle can go, or reach a given speed, and thus consume expensive fuel in the most uneconomic and polluting manner.
Stewart Mitchell
I expect drivers will be nearly extinct in 10 years. Robots will take over.
Gene Jordan
They may claim the purpose behind this is "public safety", but the real reason is greed. Lucrative contracts to supply all of the Breathalyzer's needed for every driver or every car will be sold by the politicians to the highest bidder. Just like the red light cameras and the desire to monitor speeders by GPS in the car or by satellites in space, the name of the game here is revenue. "lots of spot checks and failure to provide a working breathalyzer when requested by a traffic policeman will attract a fine of EUR11.00 (US$14)." The police officers unions will be happy because it will take more officers to man those spot checks. The police department, city, and/or municipality will be happy to receive the funds generated from these tickets. It won't result in less people driving drunk though. People who are breaking the law do not plan on getting caught. Had this article followed the money trail on this topic, it might have come off as less biased. It's almost as if the writer is trying to sell the idea to the general public instead of reporting on the subject.
John Russell
I think car makers should sell cars that can't kill us. Crash proof radar is on some cars and should be on all cars. That would solve the alcohol problem.
Ed
most of Europe's laws are based off of the Napoleonic code where laws are created and if you violate them, it's up to the accused to prove their innocence...whereas here in the USA, we have the law of precedence which says that laws have not been written yet until a societal quorum dictates a modification of behavior is required to prevent injury to life, limb or property. Then you are assumed innocent until proven guilty. Putting a breathalyzer in a to a vehicle of an innocent person violates due process and makes the presumption of guilt without substantiation. So, no....this won't fly in the USA...it is a violation of our constitutional rights. This has been implemented though on vehicles of habitual offenders, but in those instances, due process has been met.
Mel Tisdale
I have just noticed a rather fundamental mistake in my first sentence. It should have read: "... I am the last one to rail against drink-driving legislation."