Each year thousands of lives are lost as the result of drunk driving related car accidents. It’s a heart wrenching statistic and even more painful considering that drunk driving is preventable.
New York congresswoman Kathleen Rice is working to further drunk driving prevention and announced on July 14 that she will introduce legislation that could mandate US automakers to equip all new cars with alcohol breath-testing units. These breathalyzers, known as ignition interlock devices, monitor a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) and will prevent a car’s engine from starting if that BAC level surpasses a predetermined or legal limit.
“Advancing the progress we’ve made combating drunk driving demands bold action,” said Rice in a press statement. “That’s why I’m working on legislation to require ignition interlock devices in all new cars. This technology saves lives, it saves money, and I’m going to fight to make it standard equipment in American cars.”
Historically, drunk driving has heavily affected young drivers in their 20s, and Rice cites a University of Michigan study which suggests ignition interlock devices could dramatically reduce fatalities and injuries in this category, as well as across the board.
The study finds that implementation of ignition interlock devices in all new cars over the course of 15 years could prevent 85 percent of DWI related deaths, 84 to 89 percent of drunk driving related nonfatal injuries, and the prevention of those deaths could save an alleged $343 billion in injury related costs.
Many states currently mandate that repeat drunk driving offenders equip their cars with ignition interlock devices, and more states are moving to require the devices for first time offenders as well. Rice’s bill would take the step much further with implementation on all new cars, and could run into pushback for its scope when proposed.
This mindset enrages me, and i have no love for drunk drivers.
To force the rest of us to pay for mandatory gizmagistry to dis able ONE activity.
Pure NAZI
cop cars too?
Of course not Enemy, you don’t expect them to have to follow the same rules as us mundanes do you? /sarc
Yea that would make too much common sense, Enemy. Unfortunately it doesn’t make “Communist sense”. 😉
Another Nazi invention. Now we can’t even breath in our cars anymore?
Here’s one for ya. You expect me to believe that not one of these people will not get their friends to blow into one of these things to start their car and then allow them to drive off half-drunk? Come on…. And don’t give me that, “Friends don’t let other friends drink and drive” crap. Especially when those friends are a group of cops on the way home from poker night.
This invention will do absolutely nothing.
Feds want new cars to come standard equipped with alcohol sensors:
DHS and police want new cars to come standard equipped with alcohol sensors:
“This paper provides an overview of regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to vehicle technology development and deployment, and will describe a new, innovative public\private partnership underway to develop an in-vehicle alcohol detection system.”
“However, in recognition that many alcohol-impaired drivers have not been convicted of DWI, an effort is underway to develop advanced in-vehicle technologies that could be fitted in vehicles of all drivers to measure driver blood alcohol concentration non-invasively.”
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2015/06/feds-want-new-cars-to-be-standard.html
Who the hell can afford a new car anyway?
This is not an issue for most of us here, I’m thinkin’.