U.S. auto safety regulators say they have taken the first step toward requiring devices in vehicles that prevent drunk or impaired driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Tuesday that it is starting the process to put a new federal safety standard in place requiring the technology in all new passenger vehicles.
Such devices were required in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed by Congress in 2021.
The agency says an advance notice of proposed rule making will help it gather information about the state of technology to detect impaired driving. The regulation would set standards for the devices once technology is mature, NHTSA said in a statement.
"technology that would automatically test a driver’s breath for alcohol and stop a vehicle from moving if the driver is impaired. The driver wouldn’t have to blow into a tube, and a sensor would check the driver’s breath.
Another company is working on light technology that could test for blood alcohol in a person’s finger, the group has said."
I like the idea of fewer drunk drivers on the road a great deal, but I’m not sure I’d trust auto companies to handle that kind of data responsibly
No worries, someone will have a workaround before it’s even out. But it’ll make cars more expensive anyway.
🧤
I don’t trust them to implement the functionality successfully.
So now we can see who has a profit incentive to control US policy on this matter.
So what if the passenger is drunk? This seems like an awful idea
Meanwhile Mazda is claiming ownership of information about their customers’ sex lives!
New Mazda owner here. I wish I knew exactly what metric they were using to gather this info. I would make it think I was fucking EVERY time I start the car.
Your phone calls. Through the Bluetooth.
So like ambient alcohol vapor levels in the cabin air? Because I’m pretty sure stuff like mouthwash or hand sanitizer would set that off.
There’s alcohol free mouthwash. Would inconveniencing the public in that way be worth the innocent lives ruined, or lost, to drunk driving?
Yea. I think that’s a pretty simple decision honestly. Arguing otherwise feels…backwards to me