Anti-start breathalyser: this is the new mandatory element from the DGT

Did you know that anti-start breathalysers have become mandatory equipment for the Directorate-General of Traffic? In the European Union they are already a reality and, little by little, they will begin to be fitted as standard, on a mandatory basis, to new models. These anti-start breathalysers are also known as Alcolock, and you will not be able to start your car if you exceed the permitted blood alcohol level.

Before setting off, professional drivers will have to blow into the device. If the alcohol concentration in exhaled air is above the legal limit, the car will not start. In Spain, on 30 September of this same year, the Congress of Deputies approved the reform of the Road Traffic and Road Safety Act. It now has to be approved by the Senate and then published in the Official State Gazette. Nevertheless, everything points to these measures beginning to apply in the short term.

The anti-start breathalyser will become mandatory equipment for all vehicles

Once the relevant approvals have been given, these anti-start devices will be mandatory from the coming 6 July 2022 for passenger transport vehicles and for the rest of professional drivers.

The reform of the Traffic Act comes with the aim of reducing fatal accidents on the road caused by drink-driving, and this is one of the causes, along with speeding, that claims the most lives each year. France has become the first country to apply this new device.

Likewise, many manufacturers are already starting to equip their models with pre-installation of anti-start breathalysers, so that those models can adapt to a future regulation. The European Union wants to make it compulsory for new models to include the pre-installation of these elements from 2022. This measure may lead us to think that anti-start breathalysers could very soon reach all private cars. What do you think of this measure?

The reform of the Traffic Act does not only include this change. The possibility of exceeding the maximum speed on conventional roads by 20 km/h in order to overtake has also been removed, as has the handling of mobile devices, which will now lead to the withdrawal of up to six points from the driving licence; the obligation to wear a helmet and to hold civil liability insurance to use electric scooters in cities; and the prohibition on fitting radar detection mechanisms.