The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States announced on Tuesday that it is taking the first step toward regulations that could make breath alcohol testing a standard in new cars, requiring drivers to prove they are not significantly impaired by alcohol before the vehicle can reach top speed.
Key Information
By issuing what is called a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” on Tuesday, the agency can begin crafting a new safety standard that equips all cars with tools to prevent drunk driving “when the technology is mature.”
Background Information
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been addressing the issue of driving under the influence of alcohol since the 1970s, as states began passing laws against drunk driving in the modern era. Driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol was first made illegal more than a century ago in New York, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that laws indicated that the state did not need to prove that alcohol impaired a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle – only that blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. At the same time, the legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. The legal limit for drivers’ blood alcohol content has remained at 0.08% since the early 2000s when legislation under President Bill Clinton mandated that states standardize the limit or risk losing federal funds allocated for interstate highway construction. For most drinkers, two to four drinks in one hour equate to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08, according to the University of Arizona.
The Big Numbers
13,384. That is the number of people killed in drunk driving crashes in 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Surprising Fact
The Utah state legislature passed a law in 2017 making it the first (and so far the only) state to lower the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers to 0.05.
Subdetails
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration clarified that progress has been made in systems that detect alcohol content through breath or touch sensors: a touch sensor measures blood alcohol content in the dermal layer of skin and a breath sensor measures alcohol and carbon dioxide concentrations in the driver’s exhalation.
Main Criticism
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that public acceptance of alcohol detection systems in drivers is a major consideration when implementing such a policy. The agency said it received correspondence from the public indicating that “some people sincerely believe they have the right to drive drunk.” Driving is a privilege, not a right, the agency adds that some people believe alcohol detection policies “may infringe on their rights unjustifiably.” A recent study from Johns Hopkins University showed that 63.4% of participants support a congressional mandate for alcohol detection technology in cars and that 64.9% agree or strongly agree with the statement “All new cars should have an automatic sensor to prevent driving by someone exceeding the legal alcohol limit.”
Ongoing Reading
NPR wants all new cars to check for alcohol use by drivers Forbes Advisor Worst states for drunk driving in 2023
Leave a Reply