Alcohol ignition interlock programmes for reducing drink driving recidivism
Willis and colleagues reviewed the evidence on whether fitting a breath-testing ignition interlock to the vehicles of drivers sanctioned for drink driving reduces reoffending. The device stops the engine starting unless the driver passes a breath test. The review pooled one randomised trial with a set of controlled trials. In the randomised trial, drivers with an interlock fitted reoffended less often than controls while the device was in the car, and the controlled trials pointed the same way. The finding that matters for design is the second one. Neither the randomised trial nor the controlled trials showed any lasting benefit once the device was removed. The authors are careful about the limits: most of the studies were not of high quality, few offenders choose to have a device fitted, and participation, compliance and durability remain major challenges, so more randomised trials are needed. This page cites the review for one claim, that a constraint of this kind works for as long as it is fitted and does not appear to teach.
Willis and colleagues reviewed the evidence on whether fitting a breath-testing ignition interlock to the vehicles of drivers sanctioned for drink driving reduces reoffending. The device stops the engine starting unless the driver passes a breath test. The review pooled one randomised trial with a set of controlled trials. In the randomised trial, drivers with an interlock fitted reoffended less often than controls while the device was in the car, and the controlled trials pointed the same way. The finding that matters for design is the second one. Neither the randomised trial nor the controlled trials showed any lasting benefit once the device was removed. The authors are careful about the limits: most of the studies were not of high quality, few offenders choose to have a device fitted, and participation, compliance and durability remain major challenges, so more randomised trials are needed. This page cites the review for one claim, that a constraint of this kind works for as long as it is fitted and does not appear to teach.
Written from the abstract, PubMed Central.
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Willis, C., Lybrand, S., & Bellamy, N. (2004). Alcohol ignition interlock programmes for reducing drink driving recidivism. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD004168. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004168.pub2