On May 4th and 5th, the Driven to Protect team attended the 2022 Virginia Highway Safety Summit, an annual gathering that brings together traffic safety professionals from across Virginia to learn about the latest traffic safety initiatives and achievements in helping Virginians stay safe on the road.

This year’s summit featured attendance from a variety of roadway safety stakeholders, including highway safety professionals, law enforcement professionals, traffic engineers, emergency service personnel, and community partners.

Driven to Protect was invited to speak on an educational panel about safe driving outreach for teens, where event attendees learned about the Driven to Protect Discovery Hub. In conversations at the Driven to Protect booth before and after the panel, attendees asked thoughtful questions and expressed interest in and appreciation for Driven to Protect’s outreach efforts and the life-saving applications of the DADSS technology.

In addition, keynote speaker Dr. Jeffrey Michael made Driven to Protect central to his remarks about traffic safety over the past 30 years. He congratulated Virginia on being a leader with the Driven to Protect initiative, using it as an example of how the traffic safety community should continue to deploy effective, proven methods while looking for more lasting solutions. He spotlighted the initiative as an excellent example of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe System approach, which strives to change drivers’ behavior while acknowledging that humans will inevitably make mistakes. The Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Shep Miller, also paid a visit to the summit and stopped by the Driven to Protect booth after his remarks.

We enjoyed interacting with traffic safety professionals and elected officials from across the Commonwealth and look forward to finding more ways to showcase the accomplishments of Driven to Protect and the DADSS technology in the year ahead.

Driven to Protect at the 2022 Virginia Highway Safety Summit

On April 30, the Driven to Protect team attended Technosphere, hosted by the Virginia chapter of the Technology Student Association in Hampton, Virginia. Attendees consisted of middle and high school students from across Virginia who were provided an opportunity to gain experience and insight to strengthen their STEM education.

Students were able to visit the Driven to Protect demonstration vehicle, interact directly with the breath sensor technology, and learn about its application in preventing drunk driving. Attendees also heard about the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles’ role and support for the Driven to Protect initiative and learned about the interactive lessons on the Discovery Hub.

The students showed great enthusiasm and interest towards the program and technology and asked lots of probing questions about the applications of and the development of the DADSS technology. In addition, parent volunteers and educators showed great interest in the device and its application towards keeping their children safe on the road. We enjoyed educating young students from across the Commonwealth and look forward to reaching this audience with more successful events this year!

Driven to Protect at Technosphere

This May, Driven to Protect is leading the way in promoting National Youth Traffic Safety Month in Virginia. From the engineers developing the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) technology in the lab, to the parents and educators teaching students about safe driving across Virginia – it takes all of us working together to make Virginia roads as safe as possible. And we believe that our joint efforts will lead to a world without drunk driving.

In Virginia alone, drunk driving contributed to 247 crashes in 2021. Although Virginia has a zero-tolerance policy for those younger than the drinking age of 21; drivers under age 21 can be convicted of illegal consumption of alcohol even with a blood alcohol level less than 0.08%. It’s important to start the conversation with teens early – so they can avoid the life-altering, or even life-ending, effects of drunk driving.

We hope you’ll take the time this month to spread the word that May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month. You can download the materials below, or click here to see social content you can share directly through your accounts. In addition, we invite you to take the following actions to get involved: 

Share our social content throughout the month – or create your own content about why you want to see a future without drunk driving and tag 

Inspire students by bringing our STEM-based virtual learning modules into your own classroom – from hands-on projects to a fun Kahoot quiz. Visit the 

 to get access to all of our resources. You can also find the learning modules on Virtual Virginia.

 Send an e-newsletter or post a blurb on your website. Materials can be found alongside our social content 

 Interested in a guest speaker, a hands-on demonstration, or field trip for your students? Email 

 to start the conversation about other ways to integrate Driven to Protect into your classrooms, driver education trainings, or health and safety presentations.

 on Twitter for more information about the technology and traffic safety in Virginia.

View and download Youth Traffic Safety Month social graphics

Celebrating Youth Traffic Safety Month in Virginia 

On March 22, the Driven to Protect team attended Shamrock the Block in Richmond, Virginia. The admission-free festival featured high attendance from Richmond-area college students, as well as local community members.

Event attendees were able to interact with the breath sensor technology directly to learn about the role of the Virginia DMV and the DADSS Driven to Protect initiative, as well as the DADSS technology and its real-world applications to prevent drunk driving. This event specifically allowed for realistic engagement from community members who may have been consuming alcohol during the event.

Younger event attendees expressed great support for the DADSS technology and community members who visited the demonstration vehicle were enthusiastic about the life-saving goals of the Driven to Protect program. In addition, local police officers providing security for the event were pleased to learn about the goals of the DADSS program and the involvement of the Virginia DMV. We enjoyed educating visitors from the Commonwealth and beyond about the mission and goals of Driven to Protect and look forward to more successful events this year!

Driven to Protect at Shamrock the Block

On December 8, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) convened traffic safety partners to announce the next phase of the Driven to Protect Initiative in Virginia: an exciting new trial deployment with international transportation and logistics provider 

Schneider, an industry leader and innovator in truck safety technology, will be the first trucking company to work with the DADSS Program — marking a new milestone toward the commercialization of the DADSS technology and an important next step in testing. As part of this new trial deployment, Schneider will outfit eight of their cabs with the latest breath sensors in 2022, logging more than 100,000 sensor miles for each vehicle outfitted, for a collective total of almost one million miles. This deployment will help refine the technology by increasing the stress that the system is put under on the road, exponentially increasing the number of miles driven, and exposing the system to new drivers and a wider range of environmental conditions – all key to the DADSS Program’s quest to commercialize fully passive vehicle-integrated breath technology.

The effort builds upon Driven to Protect’s ongoing partnership with Virginia-based James River Transportation, which was the first time the breath sensors were tested as part of in-vehicle, on-road test trials involving light passenger vehicles.

 featured remarks from Richard D. Holcomb, commissioner of the Virginia DMV; Tom DiSalvi, vice president of safety, driver training, and compliance at Schneider; and Robert Strassburger, president and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS).

“Virginians should be proud of our state’s leadership in public safety and technology innovation,” said Commissioner Holcomb. “The progress we have made since 2018 has advanced this game-changing anti-drunk driving technology, and I am excited to see how this new deployment will bring the technology one step closer to saving countless lives on our roadways.”

After the program, speakers and guests were able to get a close-up look at the DADSS technology in the Schneider truck, as well as in other demonstration vehicles. Those in attendance were also given a chance to learn more about the technology development process and see videos and resources available for Virginia educators and the public at the 

. Attendees were excited to see the progress the technology has made so far thanks to the deployments taking place in Virginia and were hopeful that a future without drunk driving is closer than ever before.

Check out out photos from the event here:

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Driven to Protect at the 2022 Virginia Highway Safety Summit

Driven to Protect at Technosphere

Celebrating Youth Traffic Safety Month in Virginia

Driven to Protect at Shamrock the Block

The Next Phase of Driven to Protect in Virginia