Congress Mandates New Car Technology to Stop Drunken Driving
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new requirement for automakers has been created by Congress: find a high-tech way to prevent drunken people from driving cars. This provision is part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon, which also includes a surge in spending aimed at improving auto safety amid a rise in road fatalities.
Under the legislation, monitoring systems to stop intoxicated drivers would be rolled out in all new vehicles as early as 2026, after the Transportation Department assesses the best form of technology to install in millions of vehicles and automakers are given time to comply. Approximately $17 billion is allocated to road safety programs overall, marking the largest increase in funding of this kind in decades, according to the Eno Center for Transportation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that this could lead to more protected bike paths and greener spaces built into roadways. “It’s monumental,” said Alex Otte, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Otte called it the “single most important legislation” in the group’s history, and said that it marks “the beginning of the end of drunk driving.” “It will virtually eliminate the No. 1 killer on America’s roads,” she said.
Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that an estimated 20,160 people died in traffic collisions in the first half of 2021, the highest first-half total since 2006. The agency has attributed the increase to speeding, impaired driving, and failure to wear seatbelts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Each year, roughly 10,000 people are killed due to alcohol-related crashes in the U.S., accounting for almost 30% of all traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA.
Currently, some drivers convicted of drunk driving are required to use breathalyzer devices connected to ignition interlocks, which require them to blow into a tube and disable the vehicle if their blood alcohol level is too high. The legislation doesn’t specify the technology, but mandates that it must “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired.”
Sam Abuelsamid, principal mobility analyst for Guidehouse Insights, said infrared cameras that monitor driver behavior are the most likely system to prevent drunken driving. Automakers such as General Motors, BMW, and Nissan are already utilizing this technology to monitor driver attentiveness while using partially automated driver-assist systems. These cameras check whether a driver is watching the road and look for signs of drowsiness, loss of consciousness, or impairment. If signs are detected, vehicles will warn the driver, and if the behavior persists, the car would activate its hazard lights, slow down, and pull over to the side of the road.
