Should All New Cars Include Alcohol Detection Systems?

What’s the Story?

• The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for alcohol detection systems to be included in all new vehicles.
• The proposal was prompted by a 2021 drunk driving tragedy that took the lives of nine people, including seven children, in California. The driver was heavily intoxicated and going 30-40 mph over the speed limit. 
• The technology would require vehicle-integrated impairment detection systems that would prevent drivers from operating their vehicles if they fail the alcohol screening tests.
• The NTSB does not have the authority to enforce this type of regulation and is trying to pressure the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to enact the recommendation.
• Researchers from Sweden are working on a sensor that analyzes blood alcohol content (BAC). Other researchers are looking into the feasibility of gauging a person’s BAC from their fingers.

Drunk Driving Statistics

• According to the NTSB, there have been over 230,000 fatalities due to drunk driving in the last two decades. 
• In 2019, 1 in 4 road fatalities were caused by drunk driving, according to the NTSB.
• An NHTSA spokesperson said:

"[T]he only acceptable number of impaired driving crashes is zero.”

What’s the Controversy?

• Criticism of NTSB’s recommendation tends to focus on issues of privacy, surveillance, and freedom of choice. 
•  "I think it's an invasion of your privacy. I think it's unconstitutional,” said Tyler Flood, an attorney specializing in DWI infractions.

“The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is essentially a search of your breath whenever you get in your car."

• Other critics are unconvinced that the technology is reliable enough to correctly analyze a driver's blood alcohol level. NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said: 

“[W]e know that it’s going to take time for NHTSA to evaluate what technologies are available and how to develop a standard.”

• Skeptics argue that drivers will find workarounds to outsmart the system and render it useless.

Have Your Say

What are your thoughts on NTSB’s recommendation? Is it an urgent tool in the fight to reduce drunk driving fatalities? Or is it an intrusive plan that infringes on individual privacy?

-Emma Kansiz