Drunk Driving Prevention Program has High Hopes for Drivable Test Vehicle
Technology is currently being developed for all automobiles that will inhibit drivers who are under the influence from starting their vehicle. The ambitious program is slated to have a test vehicle on the road in less than two years.

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 12, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Having just been green lit to move onto the next phase of development, a new vehicle that will prohibit anyone with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit from operating their vehicle, is now going to be tested on the road in the hopes that the technology will be integrated into all automobiles within the next two years.

Though it won't have any effect on sober drivers, the development of this technology, called the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, or DADSS for short, was started in 2008 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), which is made up of a group of the nation's leading auto manufacturers.

The program, which has been given a window of five years and $10 million to complete by the combined associations, is now completed with its laboratory phase, and are now being joined by Autoliv Development AB of Sweden and Takata-TruTouch of Auburn Hills, Michigan and Albuquerque, N.M. for the next step in the research of the program, and each company has been awarded an additional $2.25 million for meeting the strict requirements of DADSS up to this point in its development.

While Autoliv is currently working with standard breathalyzer-based technology, Takata-TruTouch is going on a different route with a touch-based approach where an infrared light is shined on to the driver's skin. A portion of the light will pass, just a few millimeters under the surface of the skin and then back to the surface, where it will be able to collect the skin's unique chemical properties through the touch pad and determine the driver's blood alcohol level.

The program is gaining support across the board, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), but even so, NHTSA Administrator, David Strickland would still like to remind us that "no matter what the future holds for advanced alcohol-detection technologies, one thing remains clear; no technology can, or should, ever replace a driver's personal responsibility not to drive drunk."

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Kelle Parker
Parker Law Center
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