Cleanliness is next to . . . a stationary bus???

It seems that anti-drunk-driving technology has caused a hiccup in Sweden.

Bus service in Östersund in northern Sweden has been disrupted due to an increase in the number of drivers using alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

As it turns out, the vapors from hands recently disinfected by the gel are triggering built-in ignition locks designed to combat drunken driving.

"I know that this has happened in a case when the driver was unable to start the bus because of it; the bus was left standing for ten minutes," Micke Bernervall, CEO of local operator Stadsbusserna told local newspaper Länstidningen Östersund.

The alcohol-based sanitizers have been broadly touted as the first line of defence against the spread of the swine flu and have become a regular feature of waiting rooms and offices across Sweden in recent months.

However a spate of fires to person and property in the past fortnight have illustrated the dangers of the disinfectant, and now city bus services have also suffered unlikely disruption as the flu takes its toll in unforeseen ways.

"We took a company decision to not provide the sanitizers to the drivers in our buses. It is not a good idea," Bernervall said.

There's more at the link.

Ah, well. At least the drivers are using the hand sanitizer for its intended purpose of cleansing - unlike some British users, who seem to prefer a cleaning of the internal variety!

Hand gels supplied to a prison to combat the risk of swine flu have been removed after inmates realised it contained alcohol and began drinking it to try to get drunk.

At least one prisoner at HMP The Verne on Portland, Dorset, was found intoxicated. The Prison Service confirmed that this case was being investigated but meanwhile antibacterial gel pumps had been removed as a "precautionary measure".

Andy Fear, a member of the Verne's Prison Officers Association (POA) committee, said the canisters had been ordered because of the swine flu threat.

"It was subsequently reported by some association members working here that the inmates had been incorrectly using them, for want of a better phrase," he said.

"The suspicion that was reported to us was that some of the inmates had drunk them. Of course some of the officers expressed concerns over potentially having to deal with prisoners who have had a drink."

The Guardian reported in August that the NHS was aware of a rising number of cases of patients with drink or drug problems stealing the £10-a-litre gel and mixing it with orange juice, Lucozade or cola to create powerful cocktails, including one suspected of causing a death.

Again, there's more at the link.

So hand sanitizers protect against swine flu - and stop buses, and give you a hangover. What else can they do that we don't know about? Stain removal, perhaps?



Peter