NHTSA unveils new anti-drunk driving
technology to prevent cars from being driven by
sloshed drivers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s
uncovered a first-ever prototype vehicle with an
advanced alcohol detection technology that could
ultimately prevent vehicles from being operated by a
drunken driver.
At a recent event, in front of hundreds of members of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving at the agency’s
headquarters, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind
showcased the prototype of two candidates for the Driver
Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) tech that it
has been developing since 2008.
“There is still a great deal of work to do, but support
from Congress and the industry has helped us achieve
key research and development milestones,” Rosekind
said. “DADSS has enormous potential to prevent drunk
driving in specific populations such as teen drivers and
commercial fleets, and making it an option available to
vehicle owners would provide a powerful new tool in the
battle against drunk driving deaths.”
Rosekind said the agency has no plans to start a
process to make the devices compulsory on all vehicles.
He said to start he hopes that the technology could be
tested in a commercial or government fleet in a few
years. He is of the belief that once it is proven parents
and others will accept it.
According to Rosekind, People will think “how did we
ever drive without it.” In a few years, the system needs
to be foolproof for the public to accept it. “No one is
going tolerate anything less than that.”
DADSS is a non-intrusive system targeted at finding out
when a driver is above the legal alcohol limit. One is an
low-key breathalyzer put on either on the driver-side
door or on the steering wheel that can “smell” your
breath, even if you don’t bend in closely. The other is a
touch sensor fixed in an ignition button or a gear shift
that checks your finger for your Blood Alcohol Content
(BAC). Both car add-ons can find out whether your BAC
is beyond the legal limit of 0.08, and both of them are
created to keep you from taking the car anywhere if
that’s the case.
A restaurant trade association, The American Beverage
Institute that represented over 8,000 restaurants
obstructs the DADSS program. They also strongly
opposed attempts by the National Transportation Safety
Board to persuade states to lower the maximum blood
alcohol level from .08 to .05, which is unsuccessful so
far.
Managing Director Sarah Longwell told The Detroit News
that it “will simply stop many responsible social drinkers
who have a glass of wine with dinner from starting their
cars,” since BAC rises as alcohol gets absorbed into your
bloodstream.
He also said that “‘Voluntary’ passive alcohol sensors
like DADSS will do nothing to keep these dangerous
drivers off our roads. Instead, DADSS will simply stop
many responsible social drinkers who have a glass of
wine with dinner from starting their cars.”
To be clear, the agency will not need automakers some
of which are working on their own anti-drunk driving
tech to install the system when it is ready. NHTSA head,
Mark Rosekind only desires that in a few years after it
gets tested on government vehicles, people would find it
useful or even necessary. However, that take a while
though, as the agency believes that the research and
development of the final product could take five to eight
years more.
Source: Detroit News
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