The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automakers and safety advocates want to use technology to reduce the affect that drunk drivers have on everyone else on the road.
The coalition plans to do this with a new version of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), which was created in 2008 with the purpose of telling if drivers were intoxicated, according to Fox News.
The system comes in two forms, one of which is a collection of sensors on the steering wheel or door handles that collect air throughout the cabin and determine the ratio of carbon dioxide in alcohol. The goal is to isolate the driver's breathe from that of any passenger in the car and figure out who, if anyone, has been drinking.
The second form is a touch-based system that could be installed on the car's start button or gearshift lever. The system would use a beam of infrared light to conduct a spectroscopy on the blood just under the surface of the skin and read the reflected life so it can measure the driver's alcohol content.
The DADSS's creators say it will be set at the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol concentration, The Daily Caller reported.
Users would also have the option to lower the system to a zero tolerance level so they can monitor drivers under the legal drinking age.
The coalition wants to make the DADSS a standard feature in cars, along with seat-belts, airbags and other safety devices. They still have to address the issues of making this feature mandatory and whether or not drunk drivers would be being willing to install it.
Sarah Longwell of the American Beverage Institute (ABI) said in a telephone interview that the technology still needs some improvements, but she added that it has managed to gain support from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Dads Against Drunk Driving (DADD) and other organizations, The DC reported.
The goal for the DADSS is to be ready for production and making the road safer for drivers within the next five years.
