Alcohol ignition locking devices are both expensive, with the offender carrying the costs, and their court-ordered use after a DUI conviction is longer than the total ban on driving usually imposed by courts.
These are factors that make the locks less attractive to many offenders. Even so, these devices are becoming more common.
For example, so far this year courts in the Meri-Lappi region of south-western Lapland have more than doubled the number of cases in which sentencing allowed for the use of alcohol ignition locks.
However, nine out ten offenders have opted for a sentence of a suspended licence instead.
Lapland Police Inspector Henri Tolonen points out that a ban on driving following a DUI conviction rarely exceeds one year, but the "supervised driving rights" that go with the use of alcohol ignition is generally 18 months.
"In addition, the cost is around 3000 euros. Those costs consist of the device itself, installation and inspection. Also, the lock has to be calibrated every two months," Tolonen explains.
Not for everyone
An offender under court-ordered supervision following a DUI conviction is not allowed to drive any vehicle without an alcohol ignition locking device. If the offender is caught at the wheel of a vehicle without one, it automatically leads to a suspended license. Anyone known to have an alcohol addiction is ineligible for the use of an ignition lock.
"A condition for the use of an ignition lock is that the individual does not have a substance abuse problem. If there is a problem, a locking device does not even come into consideration," says Inspector Henri Tolonen.
