Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer says the United States should spend more money toward the development of a technology that can prevent drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.
Sen. Schumer says he is cosponsoring a bill that supports a technology called Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS). The bill, which was introduced by New Mexico Democrat Sen. Tom Udall, calls for increased funding for DADSS, which uses touch-based and breath-based sensors that can detect how much a driver has had to drink. The system will then prevent the ignition from starting if it detects the blood alcohol levels to be more than the prescribed limit.
"More effective technology to prevent a drunk driver from turning the key in a more fool-proof way is now here and it is now ready," Sen. Schumer said in a news conference. "But we can't let it sit parked on some shelf."
DADSS is a project collaborated upon by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the industry group Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety. If the bill, which is given the lengthy name of Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-Related Fatalities Everywhere Act, is approved, the federal government would provide the project $48 million in funding over the next six years, as opposed to the $5 million a year the project received in recent years.
Sen. Schumer says he is not calling for the incorporation of DADSS into all vehicles. He says the technology should be required only for people who have a history of driving under the influence of alcohol and other substances but only as an optional addition in vehicles of people who have not been convicted of driving while intoxicated.
"At the very least [the technology] would be optional to everyone," he said, "and all people who have any conviction of DWI or DUI would have to have it in their cars."
The announcement comes in the wake of a purported drunk driving incident in Long Island, where four women travelling in a limousine were killed and others injured when a truck hit their vehicle. Steven Romeo, the truck driver, was intoxicated when the incident happened, but testing for his blood alcohol levels found he was slightly below the 0.08 legal limit in the state of New York.
The NHTSA says more than 10,000 people were killed in drunk driving accidents in 2013, the latest year for which data is available. This comprises nearly a third of all vehicular traffic-related deaths for that year.
Photo: Mike Steele | Flickr
