The Swedish government wants all of the country’s new cars to be equipped with devices that check sobriety by 2012 to prevent drunken driving, a minister said on Thursday.
Buses and other heavy vehicles should be required to install the devices even earlier, Communication Minister Ulrica Messing wrote in an opinion article in newspaper Goteborgs-Posten.
The devices, called ignition interlocks, measure alcohol on the breath and won’t allow a car to start if the driver has been drinking.
Messing said around 15 00 Swedes drive under the influence of alcohol every day. The new requirement would have to be approved by Parliament.
Messing said she had invited European Union Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot to Sweden next week to discuss the union’s common transport policy as well as the Swedish proposal for ignition interlocks. – Sapa-AP