A car that won’t start if you are drunk

Inventing a world without drunk driving would make life safer for everyone. A path leading to better driver safety is under way. An alcohol detection system for driver safety comes by way of a research program. The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) has been on a mission to advance alcohol detection technology in vehicles.

DADSS has been at work on a safety feature to protect against drunk driving. Their system is designed to measure alcohol in a driver’s blood in less than a second. If it is above .08, the legal limit in all 50 states in the US, the car simply won’t move. For drivers under 21, for whom any amount of blood alcohol is illegal, the system can be programmed for a zero-tolerance policy.

The breath-based system pulls a driver’s breath into a sensor. The sensor could be placed in the driver’s side door or in the steering column as the driver breathes normally. A beam of infrared light is directed at the breath’s molecules.

Carbon dioxide and alcohol molecules absorb different amounts of light. The sensor compares the two. Alcohol levels can be measured precisely, even in small concentrations. If the proportion of alcohol molecules to carbon dioxide molecules is over a certain range, it indicates an illegal blood alcohol level. The system captures only the drivers’ breath.

The touch base technology reads alcohol below the skin’s surface. Sensors in the car’s ignition button or in the gearshift shine a beam of light on to a finger. Alcohol absorbs specific wavelengths of light — by measuring the light’s intensity, the system can pinpoint the blood alcohol level.

When this detection system is ready for commercialisation, according to a promotional video, people will be able to buy the alcohol detection system as a safety option, just like Emergency Brake Assist or Lane Departure Warning.