New car tech could stop drunken drivers
If you're drunk, your car may soon be able to stop you from driving.
A new generation of technology is taking shape around systems that prevent cars from operating if the driver is drunk. Researchers say the new technology is so promising that they compare it to the advent of the seat belt in terms of its potential.
"This is the single best opportunity we have to save lives," says Bud Zaouk, director of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), a government-funded research organization.
Researchers are developing with two cutting-edge approaches:
•Breath. A system measures blood alcohol levels from a driver's breath. The levels would be detected from sensors mounted in front of the driver. But the driver wouldn't even need to be aware they are being monitored.
•Touch. This method would screen for alcohol when the driver touches the start button, or another designated surface in the car. Alcohol levels would be measured under the skin's surface on a touch-pad with an infrared light scanner.
Experts say either approach would be a breakthrough because unlike past approaches, neither would be obtrusive or embarrassing. Drivers wouldn't have to blow into a tube or wait around in order to start their car. The new technology draws support from a number of driving safety advocates, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
"This car is going to be the cure," says Colleen Sheehey-Church, MADD's president who lost her own son to a drunken driver. "If this technology was available then, my son would be alive today."
Roughly 10,000 die in drunken-driving related accidents each year, according to J. T. Griffin, government affairs officer for MADD.
The project began in 2008, fueled by the frustration over stubbornly high drunken-driving fatalities. The research is being spearheaded by engineers in DADSS, in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, an organization representing automakers nationwide.
"We have our sights set on inventing a world without drunk driving," says Rob Strassburger, CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, in a statement to USA TODAY.
The technology is scheduled to be car-ready in the next five to eight years, according to Zaouk. It's yet to be seen how much it could add to the price of a new car, but Zaouk said he expects its cost will be in the ballpark with other safety breakthroughs like collision-avoidance braking and lane departure warnings systems.
As of now, experts don't envision the system as required equipment in all new cars. Rather, it will be marketed as an optional safety feature that would instantly let drivers know when they are too drunk to drive.
"These tests need to happen in less than a blink of an eye so that it doesn't inconvenience the driver," Zaouk says. "We're focused on accuracy, precision and the speed of measurement."
The breath-based system will draw the driver's breath into a sensor and measure the concentration of carbon dioxide and ethanol molecules being exhaled from the body. These molecules give off a certain wavelength when put under infrared light beams, which will be placed in the car.
The sensors will act as a tracking system to measure the ratio of carbon dioxide molecules to ethanol molecules produced by the driver. If the ratio hits a certain threshold of ethanol to carbon, the car won't start.
Researchers are also considering a touch-based system, utilizing spectroscopy to measure alcohol levels in skin tissue. Infrared light will shine on the driver's skin upon touching a sensor, and a portion of this light will reflect back to a system in the touch pad. The reflection can tell the system what chemical properties are present in the skin, including ethanol levels in the tissue. If the levels register as 0.08% or more, the car won't start. The machine will only be set-up to analyze ethanol levels, and take multiple readings to ensure an accurate conclusion.
Researchers have considered putting the touch-pad in a natural spot for drivers, mimicking a vehicle start button. Manufacturers are also considering ways for the car to detect when someone else other than the driver attempts to start the car, such as creating a touch-ID system programmed to the driver's fingerprints on the touch-pad. Engineers have also proposed a circuit method, forcing the driver to press the button while sitting in the driver's seat.
"We are in the process of taking all of those larger prototypes and making them smaller, making them work in a vehicle environment," Zaouk says. "It has to be reliable day in and day out for the life of the vehicle."
These new systems could take the place of current ignition interlock systems, often ordered by courts after drunken-driving convictions. These systems require drivers to blow air into a device plugged into the car's ignition, measuring alcohol levels in a similar fashion as a breathalyzer.
All states have adopted interlock laws, but vary in mandates and usage. For instance, 24 states, including New York, Florida and Texas, require interlock devices installed after the first DUI conviction. Drivers usually have to buy the system themselves, usually paying $70 to $150, plus monthly charges for upkeep and court monitoring.
MADD's Griffin says the next generation of drunken-driving prevention devices, the passive high-tech ones, could make an even bigger impact.
"We have a blueprint to eliminate drunk driving in America," he says. "In the next five to eight years, you're going to see another great reduction in the number of victims."