WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today joined with members of Congress, safety advocates and industry representatives at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s headquarters to highlight advances in the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program, a research partnership between NHTSA and an industry consortium to develop technology to prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from operating their vehicles while under the influence.

The DADSS program will be an exhibitor at the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV), June 8-11, 2015, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In a nationwide online survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, we asked 1,006 drivers age 21 and older to rate the technology based on a scale of zero (very negative) to one hundred (very positive). Respondents had a very positive reaction to the description of the technology with a mean rating of 75.

Methodology—National Online Survey

Public Opinion Strategies conducted a national online survey among N=1,006 adults age 21 or older. The survey was conducted January 19–26, 2015.

Survey question:

“Listed below is a detailed description of a new technology that is being developed for new motor vehicles. Please read the description in its entirety and then answer the question that follows:

A new technology is being developed that will enable a vehicle to measure the driver’s blood alcohol level. If the driver’s blood alcohol level is over the legal limit, the vehicle won’t shift into gear ‐ it won’t move.

There are two different ways the technology could work:

1. It would measure the blood alcohol level through the driver’s skin, such as when the driver presses the button to start the car or through the steering wheel. It would take multiple readings in less than half of a second to ensure accuracy.

2. It would measure the blood alcohol level through the driver’s breath. It would be designed to measure only the driver’s breath, not the passengers’.

Both systems are non‐intrusive; they will not impact or inconvenience a sober driver.
The technology will be engineered and calibrated to accurately and precisely measure a driver’s blood alcohol level. It will be programmed by the manufacturer at the legal blood alcohol limit in all 50 states of .08. For young drivers, parents will be able to program the system to zero, which is the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers under 21 years of age.

The technology will be available on new cars as an optional feature ‐ like other safety features such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and blind spot detection.

Please rate your overall reaction to this entire description of the new technology on a scale of zero to one hundred, where zero means you have a very negative reaction and one hundred means you have a very positive reaction, and fifty is neutral. Of course, you can use any number between zero and one hundred depending on how you feel.”

By Kate Ashford

What if there was a safety feature you could install in new cars that would prevent tens of thousands of deaths? Turns out, there is.

March 19, 2015
The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), Inc.
Contact: Jake McCook, 202-681-4595, jake.mccook@gmmb.com

WASHINGTON – Today, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), Inc. released the following statement on a research and practice paper published on March 19, 2015 in the American Journal of Public Health on alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes and how it relates to the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS):

“While DADSS is an advanced driver assist system that will be optional for new car buyers and not a mandatory interlock, we are encouraged by studies like this on how vehicle technology can save so many lives and public health costs,” said Robert Strassburger, President and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, Inc. “We are confident that DADSS will indeed reduce the impact of drunk driving and look forward to the day when it becomes available as a consumer option.”

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