Now this is legislation we can get behind.
Apparently, there is a bill being drafted in the Senate (with similar efforts in the House) to make alcohol detection on the breath of drivers a mandatory feature of all new cars by 2024. It’s called the RIDE Act (Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Act).
It has bipartisan support, and it should, because drunk driving is really just never OK, even in an emergency. You’re not just putting yourself at risk, but endangering everyone else on the road, including pedestrians (11,000 people were killed by drunk driving in 2017).
We were initially skeptical, because a simple breathalyzer system (called an ignition interlock) could be easy to get around (if you ask someone else to breathe into it, for example, and then get in the driver’s seat). And that’s pretty much the current state of the technology developed by automakers working with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (a breathalyzer built into the car door). But the bill also provides funding for developing even subtler, automatic systems for detecting alcohol through touch, cameras, and breath.
Automakers have been accused of slow-walking the development of the technology and are waiting on government funding to bring it to market. They say it’s because they want to wait to perfect and test the system before shipping it.
Our take? They appear concerned, perhaps, that they will block drivers who’ve only had a single glass of wine and not just those who are impaired (and they know how much we drink as a people!). But we hope they don’t wait too long before implementing the technology; even an imperfect system is better than nothing at all. And really, no alcohol at all is safest for every driver. Let’s pass this bill!
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