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Cycling under the influence can be just as dangerous as drink-driving, but there aren’t the same laws in place to discourage it. It is often up to the cyclist themselves to judge whether they are fit to get on their bike, however, good intentions often disappear after a few drinks, so the Alcho-Lock — developed by Japanese bike maker KOOWHO — is a smart bike lock that cyclists can put in place when they’re sober, to protect them from bad decisions later on.

The Alcho-Lock is a Bluetooth connected bike lock which requires users to take a breathalyzer test before it will unlock. The lock is synced to a companion smartphone app: when the user wants to unlock their bike they must first breathe into it and await assessment from the app. Then, if the user is drunk, the app will provide a warning message — advising them against riding home — before unlocking the bike. The app can also be set to alert a friend or loved one if the user has had too many.

We have seen similar systems used to disable drink driving, such as the parking lot barrier which only lets club revelers who are under the limit leave, and urinal cakes that inform parking valets which clubbers are too drunk to drive. How else could cyclists be discouraged from riding when drunk?