WASHINGTON — Saying that it has arrived at “a new frontier in the fight against drunk driving,” the U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday outlined plans for new alcohol-detection technologies in vehicles. It said the goal is to integrate such technologies into vehicles in 8-10 years.
The new Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety includes a touch-based system called “tissue spectrometry” that senses blood-alcohol concentration. A second option is “distant spectrometry” that uses part of the infrared light spectrum to detect alcohol concentration in the driver’s breath. If the system detects that the driver is drunk, the vehicle will be disabled.
“The goal over time is to equip all passenger vehicles in the U.S. with the technology, since without full implementation the benefits will be reduced,” said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a statement.
The federal government is in the middle of a five-year, $10-million cooperative effort with automakers to develop such technologies. The NHTSA said it will kick off “practical demonstrations of one or more of the alcohol-detection technologies” later this year. The automakers involved in the project include BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Jaguar/Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
“The [alcohol-detection] technology is not intended to prevent anyone from having a glass of wine or an alcoholic beverage for dinner,” said the NHTSA.
It said the cost per vehicle has not yet been established, but that such technology could be “voluntarily installed as an option for new cars.”
The NHTSA said 10,839 people died nationwide in crashes involving a drunk driver in 2009. These deaths make up 32 percent of all fatal crashes, it said.
