Three states are now testing alcoholic detection systems that are built into the car’s steering wheel. They can measure the driver’s blood alcohol level simply from the ambient air (no blowing into a tube required).
Connecticut recently became the third state to test these devices, that use a sensor in the steering wheel, joining Virginia and Maryland. In CT’s case, the only visible sign that the steering wheel is different is an LED strip that flashes red if the driver is impaired. If that occurs, then the car won’t drive. If it flashes green, the car is free to drive.
The Fed mandated in 2021 that new cars include some kind of Ignition Interlock device. The device must be “passive” so that would exclude anything that required drivers to actively blow into a tube.
The Dept of Transportation has three years to issue a rule announcing a standard for these devices. Then car makers have two years to comply, which would put us at 2026 at the earliest. However, there is some leeway for the Secretary of Transportation to alter the timing.
Bob Gallup, Chief Revenue Officer of Smart Start believes true implementation of this technology is more than 5 years away. And even when the technology is improved, he believes it will be subject to legal challenges.
“At some point, but not in the next 5 years, it will be figured out. Then the next battle is everyone’s first amendment rights…” Gallup said.
Alcohol detection in IIDs is measured by concentration in the breath. In passive systems, there are ways to circumvent this such as rolling down the windows or opening the sun roof, or having a person who isn’t drunk start the car.
Gallup said in the IID industry, “around half the money we spend on R&D is on circumvention—preventing people from disconnecting it, tampering with it, having others blow in it.” One system uses a camera in the car that matches up to a picture on file.
But the organization in charge of developing and testing the new steering wheel devices, DADSS, says it is working on all that.
Its steering wheel IID uses a new sensor-based system that draws in the exhaled breath of the driver and measures alcohol as well as carbon dioxide. The amount of CO2 is an indicator of the degree of dilution of the alcohol in the air. The sensor uses infrared light (as alcohol and CO2 absorb IR light at specific wavelengths).
The sensor is developed by Sensaire, a company based in Sweden. DADSS said the sensor is designed to distinguish between the driver’s breath and the one of the passenger. And it can account for open windows. The system would also be able to tell if it was the actual driver being tested, said a DADSS spokesman. “The technology could leverage new or existing driver presence sensors in the front seat to confirm readings from only the driver. The system will require a retest if the person in the driver’s seat gets out of the seat and another person sits down or otherwise tries to give a reading…”
DADSS said the system is designed to avoid false positives.
If the driver fails the test, the car can still turn on, but it simply can’t move. So the car may be used to keep warm or cool and charge a phone. He said that the car won’t work at a blood alcohol level of .08 percent, which is significant intoxication.
As far as legal challenges, the technology is closed loop and is not reported to any authorities. The car simply won’t drive.
DADSS said the technology will be ready to hand off to the automakers in up to two years, and then it will take another 1-2 years for automakers to implement it.
It should be noted it took ten years for a law mandating back up cameras to finally take effect in 2018.
Even when all the circumvention measures are solved, and legal challenges thwarted, it could take 12 years before the built-in IIDs are widespread enough in cars to have a major impact on the number of deaths, according to the author of a 2020 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Charles Farmer, told the The Detroit News.
So aftermarket IIDs might be around for a while.
DADSS stands for Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety. It is a joint effort between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.
Other states, in addition to CT, VA and MD are interested in testing the technology, said a DADSS spokesman.
In CT’s case, the system will be tested for 12 months in six vehicles.
Photo: CT DOT vehicle
So, I come home from work after a long day and bring in the groceries. Phone rings and I have a couple of drinks while talking. Then my neighbor stops by with beer. After he leaves I go out to put my car in the garage and it starts, but won’t move… That ain’t going to fly!