Ms Moyagh Murdock:

I noticed in yesterday's newspaper that a drink driver was apprehended in County Antrim over the weekend after being involved in a crash. I do not know how serious it was. He was driving a new Ford Fiesta, which has software installed which places an emergency call automatically when an accident happens. The PSNI arrived on the scene and detected that the guy had taken alcohol and that the car had called the police on his behalf. This eCall technology will become mandatory in all new vehicles coming out of Europe in 2018. While we certainly do not want to rely on technology that calls the emergency services after a crash has happened, it is an indication of the prevalence of drink driving.

Many professional driving companies already have alcohol interlocks installed in their vehicles. A bus company from Dundalk, I think, won the contract to supply transport for the 2012 Olympics as a consequence of having them in its coaches. Certainly for public tendering purposes, many buyers of services are encouraging the use of the best technology available resulting in the safest drivers. Having heavy goods vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles fitted with such devices would be very welcome. They are a high risk group in that they carry more passengers and bigger loads, so they should be safer on the roads.