Feds look to introduce new tech in all cars to prevent DUI incidents.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Every two hours, three people are killed in alcohol-related highway crashes, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 10,000 people were killed in 2013 by alcohol-impaired crashes, accounting for nearly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
In an effort to turn the tide against such dire statistics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled a technological innovation that could ultimately prevent any vehicle from being operated by a drunk driver.
The NHTSA has been working with a consortium of automakers, including Detroit’s Big Three, since 2008 to develop the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety — known as “DADSS” — a noninvasive system aimed at detecting when a driver is above the legal alcohol limit, reported the Detroit News.
The new equipment won’t require a driver to blow into a tube, like the devices some states require after drunken-driving convictions that are capable of locking up a steering wheel. Instead, either a passive set of breath sensors or touch-pads on a starter button or gear shift will immediately register the level of alcohol in a user’s bloodstream, according to the Washington Post, and prevent the vehicle from operating if it is too high.
The latter method would involve shining a light on the driver’s finger and using near-infrared tissue spectroscopy — similar to an x-ray, but with infrared light waves — to determine how much alcohol is in the driver’s bloodstream, disclosed Car Connection.
The NHTSA’s aim is to complete the first consumer-ready version of this technology within the next five years.
NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said at the Washington D.C. unveiling: “There is still a great deal of work to do, but support from Congress and industry has helped us achieve key research and development milestones. 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.”