A similar device is currently being researched in the US, with the potential of being applied globally to all vehicles. Considered by some the equivalent of the next seatbelt, the system is subject to more government funding.
The research, which started in the US some two years ago, already ate up $2 million a year but, according to The New York Times, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2012 would increase that funding to $12 million a year.
The bill responsible for the increase, currently awaiting consideration by the Senate, would allow for a faster development of the device. As the one used today in some trucks, it would smell the breath of the driver and prevent the car from starting. So far, there's no word whether the device will be mandatory or not.
“We want a device that has to be invisible to the sober driver, the person under the legal limit. It has to be very fast, very accurate, highly reliable and precise,” Susan Ferguson, program director for Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety told the source. “All those things will take a significant amount of money.”
Of course, whatever the shape the future device will get, unfortunately, there still is a way around it.
We told you about the breathalyzers fitted into some trucks because we experimented them. Sort of. A friend, of a friend, of a friend, is a truck driver with a drinking and driving habit. His truck is fitted with a breathalyzer.
To go around that, our friend of a friend, of a friend used duct tape to cover the device's nose. The device currently has no idea that the driver, at times, gets behind the wheel a bit drunk. And the truck starts, no matter what.
Sadly, the above is a true story.
Google News