Volvo Trucks demonstrates alco-lock at EU seminar

Volvo Trucks yesterday participated at a seminar on alco-locks in Brussels. The aim of the meeting was to both to demonstrate how the equipment works and to persuade the EU to introduce the alco-lock as standard on all commercial vehicles.

The meeting was called at the initiative of the Swedish government and brought together a number of players in the field of traffic safety, among them Volvo Trucks. The company assisted the government by providing a truck equipped with the alco-lock system.

"Volvo supports the Swedish government’s proposal regarding the introduction of alco-locks in vehicles throughout the EU. We are convinced that this measure would save many lives every single day on European roads," says Lennart Pilskog, director of Public Affairs at Volvo Trucks.

For the past couple of years now, the alco-lock has been available as an option on all Volvo trucks. In 2005, sales of the system rose sharply and today there are more than 5,000 buses and trucks in Sweden are equipped with the system.

"Here at Volvo Trucks, we feel it is important that forthcoming legislation covers all of Europe at the same time, both for safety reasons and also to ensure that the additional cost is borne by all manufacturers in exactly the same way," explains Lennart Pilskog.

The alco-lock is easy to use and features a starter inhibitor and a log function. The lock consists of a central unit and a hand-held unit with a replaceble mouthpiece. In order to start the engine, the driver must first activate the alco-lock and then blow into the mouthpiece. If the driver’s breath contains traces of alcohol, the central unit will cut the supply of current in the electrical system, thus preventing the engine from starting.