You know what they say, speed doesn't kill you, but it's the sudden stop you should be afraid of. Well, we know it too but there are a lot of factors just as dangerous, and alcohol is one of them.
In fact, alcohol is still responsible for crashes that result in up to 10,000 deaths every year - more than 30% of traffic casualties, but here comes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to the rescue with an alcohol-detection technology called DADSS.
DADSS stands for Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety and directly put, it aims to prevent rather than to treat. In other words, it prevents drivers under the influence from driving off in their car by employing two systems that have been discussed before in the automotive world.
On one hand, the system operates a breathalyzer mounted on the steering-wheel, able to detect if the driver has a BAC (blood-alcohol concentration) level of over 0.08. Secondly, the start button or the ignition are fitted with an infrared sensor that determines a person's BAC by scanning his or her finger.
Although not yet fully operational, the NHTSA has already found a lot of uses for this safety system.
"DADSS has enormous potential to prevent drunk driving in specific populations such as teen drivers and commercial fleets, and making it an option available to vehicle owners would provide a powerful new tool in the battle against drunk driving deaths," explained Mark Rosekind, NHTSA Administrator.
Sure, there's still a lot of work to do but we have to consider the legal aspect of the system. Will it be mandatory on every vehicle or will it come as optional equipment, with drivers being let to decide whether they want it or not in their cars?
Google News