U.S safety board calls to mandate tech to keep people from driving drunk

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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for all new cars to include passive alcohol-detection systems to limit the operation of vehicles by impaired drivers. The recommendations, released September 20, come following an investigation into a 2021 crash in Avenal, California. Nine people were killed, including seven children, in a car caused by an impaired driver.

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“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a statement. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now, to save lives.”

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Last year, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an order for a decision to be reached on the matter by November 2024. If put into effect, automakers will have at least three years to implement the technology in cars and most trucks. The industry has already been working with NHTSA to develop the driver alcohol-detection system for safety technology.

However, Republican lawmakers have been pushing back against mandating passive alcohol-detection systems, saying the technology could “violate privacy rights of law-abiding citizens.”

The NHTSA estimates that drunk-driving incidents cause roughly one-third of all traffic-related fatalities and account for 10,000 deaths annually. In addition, the NHTSA reports that over 230 kids have died in drunk driving accidents recently.