GM is working with regulatory with regulatory agencies like the NHTSA to include surveillance technology designed to prevent drunk driving in its passenger vehicles, the automaker’s CEO Mary Barra said in an interview this week.
Discussing the matter with the chairman of the Economic Club, David Rubenstein, Barra said the monitoring systems will be “good for everyone” and noted that “we have the technology to do that.”
The passive drunk driving detection systems GM is looking to incorporate were developed in response to a 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provision. The legislation decrees the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) prepare a rule mandating “advanced drunken- and impaired-driving prevention technology” in all new vehicles sold in the U.S.
The rule must be issued by November 2024 according to the Law’s provisions, meaning less than a year remains before the tech will be mandated. The rule will come into force approximately two to three years after it is finalized by the NHTSA, meaning GM and other companies will need to have their anti-drunk driving systems ready to go by late 2026 or 2027 at the latest.
The technology has been in development roughly since 2010 to 2013, with the “Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety” expected use both breath sensors and touch sensors to determine driver blood-alcohol levels. Breath sensors should be available for use by 2024 to 2025, though touch sensors are still in development with no current timeframe.
NHTSA administrator Ann Carlson urges those who are drinking to “use public transportation, arrange for a sober driver, or call a taxi or ride-hailing service and get home safely,” though the agency did not specify how the passive sensors will distinguish between the alcohol-laden breath of a drunk passenger and that of a drunk driver.
The breath sensing technology is being tested both by government fleets and privately-owned vehicle fleets. Mary Barra confirmed GM vehicles are involved in the trialing process when she remarked during the interview that “we’ve actually piloted with some fleets.”
The NHTSA took the first step toward implementing the anti-drunk driving technology mandate this week with an Advance Notice of Rulemaking that lays out some of the standards for the upcoming rule.
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Comments
A good idea. A helluva lot better than Cruise!
Oh noooooooooooo. A viable solution to prevent drunk driving. Others are going to argue nanification. Oh well, you decide.
Very few outside of MADD (and I have to wonder how many members they have) want this, so back off GM and Mary. You’re making a fool of yourselves. Internet is screaming mad at you.
Is that all the drunks are screaming?
No. Most of the screaming is coming from the populace that just wants to be left the hell alone and not have every thing part of their lives regulated by this or that agency, this or that device, or this or that need to do various steps to do the same task that used to take far fewer.
And, not a few remember the seat belt interlock fiasco of 1974. That nonsense lasted until congress went into recess and heard from The People Back Home. It was repealed when congress reconvened.
You just proved I’m correct. Denial is unrecognizable when you’re in the wrong. You’re a danger to those around you and fail to recognize it.
These regulations are coming no matter if GM is involved or not. The sooner the Automakers get involved the better for them to sway things to be more reasonable vs the government folks coming up with some crazy thing people hate.
The Government is just reaching into all our lives but in this case everyone that drives under the influence of drugs or drink are to blame.
My fix for it is a month or two hard labor for DUI. But that will never happen. There is no excuse for this but so many people just do not care about others or themselves anymore. How many have to die before we really punish these people. If it was harsh enough it may wake some up if not they will pay a price.
Punishment hasn’t been the answer. Recall the definition of insanity. Currently, we’re asking people to use good judgement at a time when their ability to judge is at its worst. It hasn’t and won’t work.
I don’t understand why government hasn’t compelled auto manufacturers to use technology to prevent an impaired person from driving, or anyone from using a cell phone while driving. There have been lots of excuses, but no good reasons. Think of the lives that could have been saved.
Say what you will, but as long as attorneys make money on dui cases, not much will happen.
I have been drinking and driving for 40 years. I drive a little over 30,000 miles a year and almost always stop for a few beers at the end of my work day. Accidents? Zero. DUIs? Zero. Pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving? Zero.
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This factual empirical history disproves the nannies and zealots who claim that drinking & driving is dangerous.
– Some of us can walk and chew gum at the same time.
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The truth is, this is just another tool in the Left’s determination to make driving as joyless, costly, frustrating, and time consuming as they can. The Leftists despise the private automobile and they’re waging a war on our cars, and so our freedom.
If you want to see what they’re aiming for, check out London. Those victims are a few years ahead of us.
We need to fight this crap, or we’ll become serfs.
You are a jackass!! You think you can drive with that in you? What kind of fool are you? I hope to God a cop grabs you and locks you away. A person with your attitude is a menace to everyone.
No, I’m not a jackass, I can drive just fine after a few beers, and I have proven it over four decades. I suggest you look up the term “cognitive dissonance”. Then you might understand why the truth triggers you so acutely.
And you need to learn some manners.
You are a big problem to all around you. What happens when you kill someone while you’re driving in a drunken stupor?
I don’t drive in a drunken stupor. Neither should you.
Actually, it’s a proven fact that I can drive with that much in me.
I’ve been doing so for 40 years – with no mishaps.
“Facts are stubborn things” – Ronald Reagan.
What about those of us who are direct or indirect victims of your kind? There are many of us. Oh, right, our experiences and opinions — our rights to safety, our basic freedoms — are null and void because only YOU deserve freedoms.
The fact that this news is riling up narcissistic drunk drivers is a great sign.
“My kind”…? Careful Lee, your prejudice and stereotyping is showing.
There a millions of us who drive just fine while “drunk” – whatever that means. I condemn the idiots who really do drive drunk, because they are indeed a threat to other people, but they are the 0.20s, the 0.25s and higher (very often our Hispanic friends).
The 0.1s, 0.12s are just fine. Not long ago the Feds reduced the threshold from the previous 0.1 – which was about right. That meant I’d reach it at about 5 beers. So I could “HAVE FIVE & DRIVE”. That was nothing for me, but in fairness I think it was about right.
Will these stupid “detection mechanisms” allow me 5 beers? Or will Big Brother shut down my car?
They have a bloody nerve, don’t they?
Another one in denial.
You keep drinking their Kool Aid, buddy.
When you grow up, you might begin to think for yourself.
And please show me one of my “victims”. Any of them.
– I was involved in a car accident once, shortly after I passed my test. It was my fault. I was stone cold sober.
Using the reasoning of the hysterical women and other unhinged zealots, this must mean that sobriety causes crashes. Right?
A survey of one isn’t very meaningful. Reality says your days (or someone else’s) are numbered. Best get some help before you suffer the far-reaching consequences.
Everyone’s days are numbered, Ken.
It’s just a matter of how much joy and fun we can have while we’re here.
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But if you want a sanitized, sterile society that’s “safe” you should go live in Iran. ZERO alcohol there!
What happens if you pick up a friend who needs a ride because they are drunk.
You eliminate the risk of them possibly causing a lot of harm, both for them and the people around them.
Using breath monitoring is the hardest way to go- just use the AI that does lane keeping and frontal collision avoidance alerts, smarten it up a little and have it pull the car off the road and call Uber. now the car could recover for someone having a medical emergency and possible prevent people from using the vehicle as an assault weapon.