Federal Agency Explores Technology to Prevent Drunk Driving
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is examining potential technologies that could prevent drivers impaired by alcohol from operating vehicles. This follows a concerning trend: alcohol-related crashes resulted in over 13,000 fatalities in 2021.
This week, the federal agency, responsible for regulating vehicle safety features, initiated steps to mandate technology in cars and light trucks. The goal is to automatically prevent drunk drivers from starting their vehicles. However, changes aren’t expected for several years, because the technology is still under development.
Daniel C. Vock
This initiative reflects growing Congressional concern, which specifically directed NHTSA to explore this technology, and concern at the state level, about the lack of progress in curbing drunk driving.
“It is tragic that drunk driving crashes are one of the leading causes of roadway fatalities in this country and far too many lives are lost,” said Polly Trottenberg, the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, in a statement. “The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking we are announcing today is the first step toward a new safety standard requiring alcohol-impaired-driving prevention technology in new passenger vehicles.”
Alcohol use remains a major factor in fatal traffic crashes, alongside speeding and failure to use seatbelts. According to NHTSA, alcohol contributes to 31% of all traffic deaths. In 2021, the most recent year for which federal data is available, over 13,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes. This equates to one death every 39 minutes.
“Concerted efforts by NHTSA, states and other partners to implement proven strategies generated significant reductions in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities since the 1970s when NHTSA records began; but progress has stalled,” the agency stated in its notice.
Every state has made it a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher. Utah stands alone with a lower threshold of 0.05%. While this approach has shown promise, other states have been hesitant to adopt it.
Most states also require individuals convicted of drunk driving to use an alcohol interlock to prevent them from operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
The approach outlined in NHTSA’s 99-page notice involves technology mandated by the 2021 infrastructure law. Congress instructed the agency to require “advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology” by 2024 if the technology could passively and accurately determine impairment.
The agency is considering methods for this, but wide-scale implementation appears distant. “Several technologies show promise for detecting various states of impairment, which for the purposes of this notice are alcohol, drowsiness and distraction,” the notice mentioned. “However, technological challenges, such as distinguishing between different impairment states, avoiding false positives, and determining appropriate prevention countermeasures, remain.”
Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which represents state traffic safety agencies, anticipates significant impact from exploring these technologies.
“Of the many critical safety provisions of the [2021 infrastructure law], this requirement for alcohol detection technology has the potential to save the most lives on our roads,” he said in a statement. The notice “is overdue, cannot be finalized soon enough and should remain a top roadway safety priority.”
NHTSA’s focus also includes exploring ways to mitigate drowsy and distracted driving. The agency highlighted the “immense” size of the safety issue surrounding distracted driving.
The agency did not specify exactly how the detection systems would operate. However, the same technologies could potentially monitor for alcohol intoxication, drowsy driving, and distracted driving. One option involves a touch pad with sensors that use infrared light to gather information about the chemical properties of a user’s skin, including alcohol concentration. This could be integrated into a typical driver interface, like an ignition switch, steering wheel, or gear shift selector.
The vehicles would likely use the 0.08% BAC threshold, the federal standard for states. However, NHTSA cautioned that alcohol can contribute to fatal crashes even at lower levels.
Another option includes breath detectors that could analyze exhaled air to determine a driver’s BAC, although existing systems aren’t “passive” as required by the infrastructure law, because they demand active user participation.
“Nearly two-thirds of all alcohol-impaired fatalities involve high blood alcohol levels with a BAC level at or greater than 0.15%,” the agency explained. “Yet even a small amount of alcohol can affect an individual’s driving ability. In 2020, there were 2,041 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where a driver had a BAC level of .01 to .07.”
Instead of relying on BAC, the agency might determine intoxication by measuring vehicle or driver movements to assess impairment due to alcohol, distraction, or drowsiness. For example, vehicles could determine if the driver’s eyes are focused on the road and if their hands are on the steering wheel. Such systems can also monitor steering, braking, and acceleration actions.
This method has challenges because different drivers show diverse signs of impairment. Moreover, drowsy drivers can sometimes be mistakenly identified as alcohol-impaired.
The infrastructure law permits NHTSA to use a combination of detection systems.
The agency also noted that several automakers, including Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo, have begun developing technologies to immobilize a car if a driver is too intoxicated to operate it safely.
