Safer Driving

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland recently took a first look at new Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) technology being developed to prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from operating their vehicles while under the influence.

While still in the developmental stages, DADSS is seen as a potential tool for keeping drunk drivers from being able to operate their cars if their blood alcohol concentration is at or above the legal intoxication limit. The technology could be voluntarily installed as an option for new cars. One system under evaluation determines the blood alcohol concentration through a touch-based approach and another system uses a breath-based approach.

NHTSA research shows that drivers involved in fatal accidents with blood alcohol levels above the .08 legal limit are eight times more likely to have had a prior conviction for impaired driving than drivers who had no alcohol in their bodies at the time of a wreck.

DADSS is being developed under a five-year, $10 million cooperative initiative between NHTSA and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, an industry group representing most of the world’s auto makers. The next stage of development, which would include practical demonstrations of one or more of the alcohol detection technologies, could begin later this year. “Whatever the future holds for these advanced drunk-driving prevention technologies, one thing remains clear: No technology can, or should, ever replace a driver’s personal responsibility not to drive drunk,” comments Strickland.

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