New cars in the United States would be required to have technology that stops drunk people from driving, under a mandate the US Congress approved last week as part of a sweeping infrastructure bill – a step that could significantly reduce one of the leading causes of crash-related deaths – writes Ian Duncan for The Washington Post.
More than 10,000 people died in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in 2019, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Campaigners against drunken driving say the new technology would bring that number down dramatically – and that it is needed at a time when once-declining death rates have plateaued in the past decade.
“This technology will essentially eliminate drunken driving,” said Alex Otte, president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving., according to The Washington Post article published on 9 November 2021.
The mandate is among several road safety provisions in the infrastructure bill. It also calls on NHTSA to require automatic braking for cars and the largest trucks, for a revamp of vehicle safety ratings and requiring in-vehicle alerts to help stop children from being left in hot cars.
The bill also seeks to address the design of roads, providing money for designs that prioritise the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
Potential to save lives
Of the measures in the bill, the drunken driving technology provision could have the greatest potential to save lives.
A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded the technology could reduce deaths by 9,400 people a year if widely deployed. Such a reduction would likely take years to materialise, but under a timeline set out by lawmakers, the technology could be required in new vehicles as soon as 2026.
The bill calls on NHTSA to finalise rules for the technology within three years, then give automakers at least two years for production. It also gives officials room to conclude that timeline isn’t feasible, which could prompt a delay. NHTSA in the past has struggled to meet congressional deadlines.
Many states already require breathalyser interlocks for drunken-driving offenders, but experts expect the approach implemented under the mandate in the bill would be different, continues The Washington Post.
“It’s entirely passive,” Otte said. “For those being safe, it won’t change the relationship with their car in any way.”
NHTSA has been working with the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, an industry group, since 2008 on systems to discretely detect alcohol on drivers’ breaths or in their blood.
The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety project has been testing sensors in recent years, including with a Virginia transportation company, and hopes to have a road-ready approach by 2024.
Another option would be to rely on cameras that monitor drivers for signs they are impaired, building on systems that automakers are using to ensure people relying on driver assistance technologies don’t lose concentration.
Link to the full article on The Washington Post website below.
Study details
Potential lives saved by in-vehicle alcohol detection systems
Charles M Farmer
Author affiliation: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, United States.
Published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention in January 2021.
Abstract
Objectives
The objective of this study was to estimate the number of crash deaths specifically attributable to alcohol-impaired driving, with a focus on various strategies for introducing vehicle-based solutions.
If alcohol detection systems are standard in all new vehicles, how many lives could be saved in the near term, and how long will it take to essentially eliminate alcohol-impaired driving? Alternatively, if such systems are offered as an option, how many lives could be saved?
Methods
Fatal crashes in the United States during 2015–2018 were classified by the highest driver blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the corresponding age category of that driver.
Based on the estimates of relative risk (RR) for a given driver group, eliminating alcohol in the driver’s blood should lower risk by the attributable proportion, 1 – 1/RR. Multiplying this quantity by the number of deaths for the driver group yielded the estimated number of lives potentially saved if the BACs were reduced to zero.
Results
Systems that restrict drivers with any BAC could prevent nearly 12,000 deaths per year, while systems that restrict BAC to less than 0.08 g/dL could prevent more than 9,000 deaths.
Within three years of a mandate for vehicle-based alcohol detection systems, it is expected that the annual lives saved would be between 1,000 and 1,300. Within six years, it would be between 2,000 and 2,600 lives saved per year, and within 12 years it would be between 4,600 and 5,900 lives saved per year.
A system required only for those convicted of alcohol-impaired driving could save between 800 and 1,000 lives per year. A system available only to fleets of vehicles could save between 300 and 500 lives per year.
Conclusions
Vehicle-based interventions will not immediately solve the problem of alcohol-impaired driving, but they are an important component of the overall strategy.
Even if required as standard equipment in all new vehicles, it will take 12 years before there are enough to reach more than half of their potential. If vehicle-based interventions are instead voluntary or introduced as options, then progress toward a solution will be much slower.
See also from the MedicalBrief archives
Law enforcement and drunk driving — how to curb SA’s road crash epidemic
SA’s 0% alcohol legislation – Threat of punishment won't reduce unsafe driving
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