Technology Targets Drunk Drivers
THURSDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) — The war against drunk driving is
turning high-tech.
Devices that can sense the amount of alcohol in the air around your
face or even in your sweat are already on the drawing board, to join
current technology aimed at stopping you from getting behind that wheel
if you’ve had too much to drink, researchers say.
“People continue to drive drunk because they can,” said Heidi Castle,
a spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “That’s when
technology comes into play. Technology has the potential to not allow
someone who is intoxicated to operate a motor vehicle. It essentially
separates the weapon — the car — from the drunk driver.”
But even though some technology has been on the market for a
generation, impaired driving is still a problem.
Last year, almost 17,000 deaths and half a million injuries were
caused by drunk driving crashes in the United States.
One of the featured technologies at a recent MADD symposium was the
“ignition interlock,” essentially a tube connected to the vehicle
ignition. The driver breathes into the tube and, if his blood alcohol
concentration (BAC) is over a certain threshold, the system prevents the
car from starting.
“This is the gold standard,” said Paul Marques, senior research
scientist with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE),
a nonprofit public health research institute.
“As far as deterrents or prevention, this is probably the most
common,” Castle added.
“We have 20 years’ experience with interlock, but it’s underutilized,”
Marques said. “It won’t have an impact on impaired driving unless it’s
used.”
The problem in the United States is getting courts to order it.
With 1.4 million DUI arrests every year, no more than 100,000
interlocks are being used. Studies have shown that the device results in
a 65 percent reduction in recidivism.
A number of other futuristic technologies are also on the horizon.
Among them:
Transdermal alcohol sensors, such as SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote
Alcohol Monitor), to measure alcohol that is lost through the skin
through sweat. The gadget, worn as an ankle bracelet, “sniffs” every 30
minutes and transfers data via a wireless connection to a probation
officer or other law-enforcement official. Passive sensors to sample the
air around a person’s face, usually without the person knowing it. The
sensor can be hidden in a police officer’s flashlight and, if it senses
alcohol, represents probable cause for more sobriety tests. A 2.5-ounce
device to monitor the movements of someone convicted of drunk driving.
Worn as a bracelet or anklet, this gadget uses global positioning system
technology to alert law-enforcement personnel if an offender has entered
a bar or gone someplace he shouldn’t. It’s part of the Southwest
Riverside County (Calif.) “Watch Your Step” program. Near-infrared
spectroscopy to determine blood alcohol composition under the skin. These
devices would go into every car and be totally passive — in other words,
the driver wouldn’t need to do anything, even breathe into a tube. The
device is still in development and is being used by former U.S. Defense
Department physicists. “It’s totally unaffordable today,” Marques noted.
But technology can only do so much to combat drunk driving.
“When you’re talking about drunk driving, there’s no silver bullet,”
Castle said. “What we need is a comprehensive solution. One of the main
components is law enforcement, but we will likely never have enough
police officers on the street to arrest every drunk driver.”
Marques added: “Drunk driving is a slowly unfolding tragedy that
doesn’t get better. Technology can help, but we can’t do it without a
human program.”
More information
MADD has more on drunk driving.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/
