Alcolocks coming to Finland
What do you call an alcoholic Polish person? An “alcolock” !! Get it? 
(Polish people are sometimes called Polocks) Okay okay, that was a really lame joke. But anywho…an “alcolock” is a device which is installed in your car to prevent you from driving drunk. Before you’re able to turn on the ignition, you first must blow into this device. If you’re drunk, it won’t start up. And during your drive, it will randomly start beeping, requiring you to blow into it or else your horn will start sounding. And they’re coming to Finland…
Finland is to introduce Friday the first of the breath alcohol ignition interlock devices, or “alcolocks”, devices that require a repeat drink-driving offender to blow into a breath analyser to switch on a car’s ignition circuit.
In the trial, having an alcolock fitted is a voluntary option to an unconditional driving ban imposed on a drink driver. Further, those convicted of drink-driving would have to agree to an intoxicant addiction assessment programme as well as well as follow-up checks.
The costs, around 150 euros per month, are to be incurred by the driver.
They only cost $60/month in the states, I know about these a tad, my buddy used to have one. No surprise they’re twice as expensive here. With a high monthly fee like that, drivers will simply refuse the alcolock and just instead drive around with a suspended license.
And there’s already ways to beat these alcolocks very easily - simple and inexpensive devices (even home made devices) that simulate fresh air being blown into the nozzle are already on the market. Chronic drink-drivers won’t leave home without one of these babies.
In Sweden, though, it is proposed that all new cars will have to have an alcolock on board by 2012. Saab has already announced it could include an “alcokey” with its cars where drivers must blow into the key before starting the car. Lorries and buses will have the alcolocks before 2012.
Leave it to Sweden to lead the industrialized world in stripping away people’s liberties, and leave it to Finland to be right there behind them. Sweden will have alcolocks in all new cars by 2012? Okay so Finland will do it by 2015.
These alcolocks are too just too easy to beat, the chronic drink-drivers will all have their anti-alcolock devices, or they’ll just learn how to hack the automobile and disable the system. And I’m looking forward to the first alcolock-related accidents where the driver reaches down to blow into the device and smacks into another car head-on. It will happen.
Want to take a chunk out of a drunk-driving? How about deregulating taxis for starts. People avoid taxis because they cost an arm and a leg, or because there aren’t enough of them at peak hours. Deregulate the market, get more taxis out on the street and make them cheaper - more people will use them and will be less likely to drive drunk.
What if some people prefer driving drunk in the first place? No deregulation can end drunk driving, at least not in Finland. What if a completely open market for taxis and alcohol won’t solve the problem? What would the libertarian solution then be? Deregulating the traffic police?
Comment by Helsinkian — Thu, Jun 30th, 2005 @ 1:21 pm
What if some people prefer driving drunk in the first place?
Throw their asses in jail is an idea.
Comment by Phil — Thu, Jun 30th, 2005 @ 1:29 pm
That is indeed a very peculiar view of “freedom”. Instead of forcing alcolocks, throw them in jail to protect their liberties?
I just don’t get it sometimes.
Comment by Tiedemies — Thu, Jun 30th, 2005 @ 2:42 pm
Tiedemis - the alcolock WILL DO NOTHING to prevent these people. It’s just to easy to beat. Plus we’re talking about chronic drunk-drivers here, people who have been convicted multiple times.
Do you have a better idea?
Comment by Phil — Thu, Jun 30th, 2005 @ 3:03 pm
Deregulating taxis is part of the solution, but that should be done anyway, for more reasons than this. Alcolocks will also become an issue in defense courts, at least in the US: after a drunk driver figures out how to start an engine without breathing in (put a little fan next to it, or something), he’ll beat the rap in court by claiming he had an alcolock, which told him it was okay to drive. Then he’ll sue the manufacturer…
Comment by Finnpundit — Thu, Jun 30th, 2005 @ 5:14 pm
“Throw their asses in jail is an idea”
How uniquely American clever thinking and boy, have you been busy throwing asses to jail. Two million and counting, another world record in crappy things in absolute and relative terms. No wonder the WHO world record of mental disorders goes to U.S. of A.
The rate of imprisonment in the US is more than SEVEN times higher (690 per 100,000) than any other western country. Holland imprisons only 51 per 100,000 citizens; Germany, 80; France, 84; the UK, 86; and Italy, 89.4.
Americans either must be really bad rotten people, real REDRUM people or it is simple a MISERABLE FAILURE (old joke but try that in google with I’m feeling lucky) of their society (yet another one).
The cost per prisoner per year is around 30 000 dollars so for two million prisoners it makes total of 60 billion dollars per year. The real crappy thing is that companies are allowed with about 11 cents per hour to use these prisoners basically as slave labor. So taxpayers pay 30 000 dollars and your all-american companies get basically free labour. No need to hire those demanding normal workers. How nice.
Comment by tim73 — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 12:09 pm
Two million and counting, another world record in crappy things in absolute and relative terms.
Most in their for drug offenses, if Libertarians took office these people would all be set free (along with all others convicted of victimless crimes) - Jail population would then be similar to the prison popluation in Finland.
So let’s not elude to the fact that I want to just throw people in jail, because I want just the opposite. However, chronic drunk-driving KILLS and should be treated seriously - don’t you agree? It’s funny how I was criticized here (http://www.finlandforthought.net/index.php?p=140) for not wanting people with unpaid parking tickets to be put in jail - yet here I’m critized for want chronic drunk-drivers in the slammer.
tim73, I’ll ask you the same question I asked Tiedemies - what should be done with chronic drunk drivers?
Comment by Phil — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 12:16 pm
USA:
Approximately 18 million Americans ??? 8.5 percent of the population ??? meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism. (Grant, 2003)
In 2002, an estimated 17,419 people died in alcohol???related traffic crashes??? an average of one every 30 minutes. These deaths constitute 41 percent of the 42,815 total traffic fatalities.
About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. (NHTSA, 2001)
Source: http://www.madd.org/stats/0,1056,1789,00.html
Finland:
Approximately 300-400 000 Finnish ??? about 7-9 percent of the population ??? meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism.
34 397 drivers were tested in Helsinki area in 2004, 68 were caught on drunk driving (0,20%).
About 20 percent (compared to 41 percent in the US!) of people died in traffic accidents are alcohol???related.
Sources: http://www.government.fi/vn/liston/base.lsp?r=89504&k=fi&old=1829 , Liikenneturva.
So the reputation of Finnish drivers being extraordinary drunk while driving is nothing but a stupid myth and it is now busted, at least when comparing to USA.
“What should be done with chronic drunk drivers?”
I read about police taking possession of chronic drunk driver’s cars (was it in Kuopio?). That might help unless the chronic drunk driver is used car salesman.
Jail time does not cure anybody, in the 60’s the prisoners of Finland were full of drunk drivers etc. just like nowadays in the US and it was concluded with careful studies to back it up that it is not benefiacy to throw them to jail, they come out much worse off and more likely to commit more sinister crimes. Thus, more harm to the society.
There is also distinction between one-time drunk drivers (too fast too furious-type) and chronic drunks. Chronic drunk drivers are not speeding usually, try to obey somehow to traffic laws and not so much of danger as the young one-timers with pedal to the metal. They try to avoid getting caught.
Comment by tim73 — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 1:04 pm
34 397 drivers were tested in Helsinki area in 2004, 68 were caught on drunk driving (0,20%).
About 20 percent (compared to 41 percent in the US!) of people died in traffic accidents are alcohol???related.
Is that 20% all of Finland or just “Helsinki area” ? - I’d suspect that Helsinki some of the least alcohol-traffic deaths, because there aren’t as many highways like in the countryside.
Comment by Phil — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 1:09 pm
I read about police taking possession of chronic drunk driver???s cars (was it in Kuopio?). That might help unless the chronic drunk driver is used car salesman.
Very unlikely. He’ll just put the car in his girlfriend or wife’s name. And how much do some of these “summer cars” cost in Finland? 250, 500 euros?
Comment by Phil — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 1:11 pm
“Is that 20% all of Finland or just ???Helsinki area?? ?
All of Finland, about 80 deaths and 1000 injured per year.
http://www.liikenneturva.fi/default.aspx?desktop=386&
Comment by tim73 — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 1:16 pm
I’ve heard problems with those MADD statistics you cited in the past. I did a quick search and found this…
But regardless, the U.S. has a serious drinking and driving problem and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it’s worse than Finland’s. The drinking and driving attitude is different in the states, it’s way more socially acceptable there than here.
Comment by Phil — Fri, Jul 1st, 2005 @ 1:25 pm
So summa summarum, Cheap taxi-rides (heck, why pay the working class -people anything at all!) and throwing the drunk drivers in jail doesn’t do the trick either. At least not in the U.S. Agree?
Comment by FinnChick — Thu, Jul 7th, 2005 @ 12:02 pm