Sunday, January 30, 2011

This will create a whole new market for vintage, pre-breathalyzer vehicles...

(fox19)
Cars may soon be able to tell you if you are fit to drive after a night out on the town.

New technology can prevent drivers from starting their cars if they are drunk.

"When you breathe, that gets pumped inside the modules," Bud Zaouk of QinetiQ North America, the company who produces the sensors, said.

At this point, the device looks a bit like a high school science experiment. But in the future it could save thousands of lives each year by preventing drunk driving.

"I always call it the seatbelt of our generation. This is the single best opportunity to save lives," Zaouk said.

The sensor is called 'DADSS' or Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety. QinetiQ is carrying out a research project, in conjunction with the federal government, to determine if the technology can be honed to a fine enough point that the public will accept it...
(more)