Such devices, known as ignition interlocks, are in widespread use for those charged or convicted of drunken driving; they require the driver to exhale into a Breathaylzer-like device and prevent the car from starting if a person’s blood alcohol level is above the legal limit.”

AD

But researchers and engineers have been working to develop newer technology that would obtain instantaneous and precise readings of every driver’s blood alcohol level when the driver attempts to start the vehicle. Safety advocates hope the technology will become as standard as air bags. Limited road testing has been underway in Maryland and Virginia.

AD

The Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Act, or RIDE Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) would provide additional funding for continued research and road-testing of passive detection systems and set a timeline of about four years to put the technology on the market. It would also commit $25 million for the federal government to test such devices in its massive fleet of vehicles as early as fiscal 2021. Similar legislation has been introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) in the House.

“It’s clear the time for research is over,” Helen Witty, MADD’s president, said Wednesday during a news conference that was streamed on Facebook and attended by the relatives of an entire Michigan family that was killed in an alcohol-related crash in Kentucky earlier this year.

AD

The Auto Alliance, an industry organization, welcomed additional efforts by the government to reduce drunken driving but also expressed uneasiness about a mandated time frame to require the use of technology that hasn’t yet been perfected.

Nearly 11,000 people were killed as a result of drunken driving in 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says. On average, that works out to a death about every 48 minutes.

AD

Among the victims are people such as the Abbas family, who were killed when a suspected drunk driver headed the wrong way on Interstate 75 and struck the family’s vehicle on Jan. 6. The crash killed Issam Abbas, 42; his wife, Rima, 38, and their children: Ali, 13; Isabella, 12 and Giselle, 7. The suspected drunk driver also died.

AD

William Mirza offered a moving tribute to his uncle, who he said had been a role model. Mirza also urged immediate action to end drunken driving.

“Drunken driving is an atrocious cancer that has plagued our nation for far too long,” Mirza said. “It is time that we take a hard look at ourselves and ask if we have been doing everything to protect and serve the citizens of this country. Because the fact of the matter is, if we had, my family — and countless other families would still be here right now.”

AD

NHTSA has spent $50 million in the effort to develop technology that would reliably and quickly determine whether a driver is impaired. These efforts include a government-funded research program involving more than a dozen automakers to develop the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS). Some advocates have accused the auto industry and federal transportation officials of moving too slowly to implement DADSS or something like it in the marketplace.

AD

Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator and president emeritus of Public Citizen, said action by the federal government would spur the industry to move faster to make the technology available.

“This is one of the most exciting issues I’ve ever seen for alcohol issues, [and] I’ve been working on them since 1966,” she said. Yet, she said, the automakers have been “slow-walking” the introduction of potentially lifesaving technology, especially compared with billions spent on developing autonomous vehicles.

AD

Some automakers have taken steps toward developing and using technology that could be used to combat drunken driving. In 2015, Jaguar announced a project known as “Sixth Sense” that would monitor the driver’s heartbeat, among other things, to determine whether the person was fatigued or distracted. In March, Volvo said it would install in-car cameras and sensors to monitor whether a driver was impaired.

The Auto Alliance said legislation could help move the process along, but not without funding.

AD