1/5/2018

A drunken driving prevention device to prevent the engine from starting when alcohol isdetected[Alcohol Interlock] Total Shipment 2330 Units

Tokai-Denshi Inc. (Headquarters: Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture Representative: Kazunari Sugimoto) isat this time currently working towards zero drunk driving, and is pleased to announce that it has developeda system which prevents the engine of a vehicle from starting once alcohol is detected. The official
description is a [Breath Exhalation Type Interlock Device ]1. Background
Since May 1, 2011, over six years have passed since the mandatory use of alcohol detectors fortransportation companies was implemented. Currently, according to the law (See Attachment 1) trucks,buses, taxis, transportation, and shipping companies exceeding 80,000 drivers/operators must always havealcohol breathalyzers installed at their offices for use when checking for alcohol consumption from thetime of clocking into work to clocking out. Not a single one of the professional drivers holding thesteering wheel on the road will have a driver that has not received an all clear from an alcohol
breathalyzing device.
However, although the aforementioned breathalyzer obligation was made to focus on [zero drunk drivingby professional drivers] the trend in recent years has been that instead of incidents decreasing and levellingoff, truck driver issues have been on the rise (See Attachment 2).

2. Press Release (Alcohol Interlock Shipment Record)
Our company since September 2009, has been selling the [Alcohol Interlock], a device that prevents theengine from running when alcohol is detected. At present, there are various kinds of [AlcoholBreathalyzers] that “always check an exhaled breath sample, leave a record, and prevent the vehicle frommoving when alcohol is detected”. Such a strict breathalyzer is only the alcohol interlock (SeeAttachment 3). Our company acknowledges that this equipment is the most effective shortcut to making
drunk driving “zero”.
Since I have compiled the latest installation data at this time you will find it as follows.

Alcohol Interlock Shipment Record
Total 2330 Devices（Starting from Dec.~Jan.）

356

486
Detection

87

155

245

293

309

213

186

Mandatory

2009年 2010年 2011年 2012年 2013年 2014年 2015年 2016年 2017年Despite receiving a subsidy by the All Japan Truck Association and from each prefecture (SeeAttachment 4), in the past few years, shipping track records have been on a downward spiral. As shownin Attachment 3,this is probably mainly related to an increase in smartphone-related alcohol
breathalyzers, digital breathalyzers, and so on.

*What is an alcohol interlock device?
An alcohol ignition interlock is a “device that measures the alcohol concentration in the breath of adriver when starting the engine, so that the engine will not start if the result exceeds the specified alcohol
set point.”

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Alcohol Interlock Technical Guidelines
April 4,2012
http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000207320.pdf

In North America and Europe, it is common to mandate an interlock device to drunk driving offenders(average drivers) mainly by laws and regulations. On the other hand in Japan, there are companies thatvoluntarily choose alcohol interlocks, which seem to have the highest deterrence for alcohol abuse on thejob. As a result we decided to use alcohol interlocks because among all drunk driving prevention devicesthey have the highest success rate.The number is about 2330 units.Interestingly, alcohol interlocks for theoffender market are said to be somewhere around 400,000 units around the world, but there is no clear
data on the real number in foreign countries because some countries only arbitrarily use them.

Our customers using our interlock device stick this sticker to the body of their truck.If you see it on thehighways or service areas please be reminded of our company’s serious efforts to prevent drunk driving.
★★For general inquiries or requests for more information★★
Tokai-Denshi Inc.
Olympic Building No. 3 Room 203, 2-34-13 Akebono, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo, 190-0012
ｅ-mail:info@tokai-denshi.co.jp URL：http://www.tokai-denshi.co.jp