NHTSA Unveils Prototype Of System To Bar Driving Under The Influence

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled a first-ever prototype vehicle with an advanced alcohol detection technology that could ultimately prevent vehicles from being operated by a drunken driver.

At an event in front of hundreds of members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving at the agency's headquarters, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind showed off the technology that has been under development since 2008.

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TheSteve - 6/4/2015 12:54:22 PM

-1 Boost

Am I the only one who sees the weirdness in this proposition?

We live in a society in which alcohol is such a big part of our culture, that we accept that people will be drinking and driving, and see this as normal. It's okay to be "reasonably intoxicated", but not "too intoxicated." How do we know the difference between "reasonable" and "unreasonable" intoxication? We define an arbitrary alcohol limit.

We live in a society that's aware of the huge number of injuries and deaths related to alcohol and driving, and yet we continue to condone it, because alcohol is such a big part of who we are. The idea of a zero tolerance, zero blood alcohol limit while driving (for an adult) seems to us as excessive and unjust. We drink and drive. It's a fact of life, so just suck it up.

So what do we do to change this situation? Change the culture, so we find it unacceptable to drink and drive? Nope. We propose putting machines in cars as a compensating measure to protect us from ourselves, to defend us from our own bad decisions. We can't be held accountable for ourselves.

There's a great saying in the computer industry: Just as soon as you build an idiot-proof system, nature comes along with a better idiot!

leej - 6/4/2015 4:10:48 PM

0 Boost

It is unacceptable to drink and drive...anyone who thinks otherwise needs to educate themselves.