Obligatory alcohol interlocks in rental cars to be discussed in Lithuania: minister

VILNIUS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Lithuanian authorities will initiate new measures aimed at preventing drunk driving including obligatory alcohol ignition interlocks in rental cars or cars used on the basis of carsharing model, Rokas Masiulis, the country's minister of transport, said on Sunday.

"Driving under the influence of alcohol is an immense problem in our country. Various steps have been taken in order to prevent this trend, but it seems that it does not work," Masiulis was quoted as saying by local broadcaster LRT.

He was commenting on a tragic Saturday night incident in capital Vilnius when a young girl was killed in an accident caused by a drunk driver of a CityBee, a car belonging to Lithuanian carsharing platform.

According to Masiulis, continued irresponsibility as regards drunk driving in Lithuania shows that other measures, such as increased fines or even criminalization of this kind of offenses, do not deliver results.

"People are already being imprisoned because they drive drunk, but they continue to do so. Statistics does not speak in favor of increasing the fines once again. We must look for other ways, one of them would be alcohol interlocks," Masiulis said.

The authorities will "address the companies which work in this sector as soon as possible," he added.

Alcohol interlocks are automatic control systems which are designed to prevent driving with excess alcohol by requiring the driver to blow into an in-car breathalyser before starting the ignition.

Lithuania is yet to evaluate the impact of measures which were taken by the authorities last year aiming to restrict access of alcohol and increase punishments for drunk drivers.

According to the data from the European Commission, a research on alcohol ignition interlocks in use has shown that alcohol interlocks are 40 to 95 percent more effective in preventing drink driving recidivism than traditional measures such as license withdrawal or fines. Enditem