The unfortunate reality of alcohol is that when consumed it clouds judgment and leaves people making choices they later regret. Officers pulling cars over for drunken driving use breathalyzers or an
alcohol testing device to measure the level of alcohol that has been consumed by the driver. While there are other more detailed alcohol tests, such as
alcohol hair testing, these types of tests cant really be done on the side of the road. However, now a new system is being looked into that could potential detect and measure the level of alcohol in your body when you grab the steering wheel. If the car detects that you have had too much to drink, based on the blood alcohol level, then the car would not start.
Sound like a dream? Why havent they considered this before? Well, to analyze and know the amount of alcohol in the blood is often difficult due to the fact that the body breaks it down so quickly. However, if they could develop something that would save even just one drunk driver from getting on the road and hurting someone it might be worth it.
The main problem associated with this idea is that it might affect casual drinkers as well as drunk drivers. How sensitive would the device be? Would it just detect the alcohol in general would a glass of wine with dinner set it off? Youd hate to be on a date, get into the car and realize your car wont start because you had a glass of beer with dinner. Plus, what effect will it have on restaurants if diners cant have one drink with dinner. It could either raise the amount of soft drinks ordered or significantly lower the amount of money their patrons are spending.
Currently, the blood alcohol level is set to .08. For a long time the level was .10 but it was lowered. Basically a woman who is around 120 pounds could not share a bottle of wine during dinner. If she did she would be considered legally drunk regardless if she could drive safely or not. The new car device would set even lower limits to the blood alcohol levels somewhere between .03 and .05. This means that a glass of wine or beer with dinner for an average individual would probably set off the device and make it impossible to drive the car. Youll have to hope the person you dined with did not have a drink as well so they could drive you home.
Would this save lives? Maybe. It might be a way to start at least, especially if the device was standard or required for all automobiles. Obviously if it was just an added feature people wouldnt add the feature or they would instead buy another car. To be successful it would need to become an industry standard. Its too bad you can extend this device to temper the terrible driving habits of those speaking on their cell phones and swerving on the road, those sleeping at the wheel or reading a newspaper at the red light. There will still be careless drivers even if we take the drunken ones off the road. But, perhaps, this might be one more step to creating safer roadways even if it doesnt solve all the problems.
