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Automakers Could Easily Stop Impaired Driving Today – Without A Breathalyzer
Automakers Could Easily Stop Impaired Driving Today – Without A Breathalyzer
Impaired drivers kill about 11,000 Americans each year according to NHTSA and IIHS. We know this number is pretty accurate because in addition to the fatalities and carnage these drunk and substance-impaired drivers leave behind, they also give us evidence that they were legally drunk or drug-impaired courtesy of the measurable compounds in their blood. That number of people killed by impaired driving is about 20 times the number of deaths caused by distracted driving due to mobile devices. Yet, the news media, safety groups, and law enforcement focus on distracted driving since that is something we all see during our daily drives.
This week, researchers and safety groups are updating the public on their progress on an alcohol detection device that can sniff out alcohol called DADSS. The progress they have made is impressive. No longer is the technology quite as cumbersome. Felons convicted of drunk driving use devices that prevent a drunk driver from starting a car. Those use the same basic technology. We don't need it to stop impaired driving.
Automakers can easily map out the behavior of drivers that are impaired right now, and create a system that would alert police to the impaired driver’s location and disable the vehicle. We already have the detection technology. We already have the telematics system to alert police in every new vehicle. The reason automakers don’t do this is that such a vehicle would sell poorly. Because a lot of Americans want to drive impaired. Automakers won’t do this unless forced by lawmakers.
Ford’s cars know when you are sleepy and can alert you to that danger based on how you are driving. Subaru’s cars know when you are driving “distracted” and can slow and stop your car when you take your eyes off the road longer than you should. Nissan’s vehicles can map your driving patterns and if you fail to do the right movements, stop your car. Mercedes and other car companies have eye-tracking technology that does the same type of things. Almost every model now has lane departure alert technology that knows when you weave out of your lane. In combination, these technology systems could easily be designed to recognize the typical driving patters exhibited by impaired drivers. All without measuring alcohol in the vehicle. Remember, it may not be alcohol that is about to cause a fatal crash. It could be opioids. It may be prescription sleeping medication. Who really cares what compound is about to result in a car crossing the centerline just ahead of you? The best technology to prevent impaired driving is not chemical sensors, but rather behavior monitoring systems.
As a writer, father, and person who has lost friends and family to drunk driving, I’d like to report the press release information about the DADSS technology progress. However, since I’m also a writer with an engineering background, and since I know that we could very inexpensively apply even better technology to prevent impaired driving, I can’t in good conscience pretend that we need the DADSS technology. We just need willpower to stop those who want to drive impaired and those who want to profit from it. We already have all the tools we need.
