NTSB recommends alcohol detection systems in new vehicles

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for the addition of alcohol detection systems in new vehicles. The push for the inclusion of alcohol impairment detection systems in new automobiles is aimed at eliminating impaired driving and speeding.

In 2021, a car crash in California — caused by an impaired driver who was speeding — took nine lives.

“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 US annually. We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.​

Per the organization, the recommended measures that would leverage in-vehicle technologies to limit or prohibit impaired drivers from taking the wheel include requiring passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems, or a combination of the two.

The NTSB is also recommending that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) require all new vehicles — at least in the United States (US) — to be equipped with such systems.

The US agency also proposes to incentivize vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation systems that would prevent speed-related crashes.

"We have to remember that technology is only part of the solution. To save lives on our roads, we need to look more broadly at the entire transportation system, which includes everything that can prevent a crash,” explained Homendy.

Photos from NTSB

Also read: 

In the know: Hazards of drunk driving