TruTouch Technologies Dreams Of Testing Upon Touching
In the Future, Will Every Driver Have to Be Tested for Alcohol?
People who are convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in the State of Washington are often ordered by courts to install an ignition shutoff apparatus on their vehicles. These ignition interlock systems do not permit a vehicle to be started by its driver unless he or she blows into a tube first. The tube is connected to a device that analyzes the driver’s blood alcohol content – and prevents the ignition from starting if the person’s BAC is too high.
What if all drivers had to pass an alcohol test before starting their cars? (Remember its lawful to drink and then drive below the legal limit).
Some hope that this will be the case in the not-too-distant future. The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety has given a $2.25 million grant to Takata and Tru Tech for a joint effort to create a revolutionary new Driver Alcohol Detection System. The goal is to produce a device that is inconspicuous, non-intrusive, inexpensive, and accurate.
Tru Tech and Takata are hoping to design a gadget that can be attached to a vehicle’s start button. The device would automatically compute a driver’s blood alcohol level through their skin in less than 1/5 of one second.
Aside from any potential privacy concerns which might be raised by the installation of such a device, the system’s implementation raises questions as well, such as:
Would the device prevent the car from starting if it detected alcohol, or would it just register a warning (like a lighted display on the dashboard)?
At what BAC level would the device be activated? (.08? .04? .00?)
To what level of accuracy would the government require the device to perform?
Would the system be intended for use in the vehicles of convicted drunk drivers only, or would it be standard equipment on all vehicles?
What would cause the system to register false positives?
What mechanism would be in place to prevent a sober passenger from starting the car instead of the drunk driver?
Would the device be able to detect drugs in a person’s system as well?
The two companies say that it’ll be at least 8-10 years before the system is ready to be installed in consumer vehicles. But such a device would likely change the way that DUI charges are prosecuted – and defended.