As their namesake suggests, impaired driver detection systems are technologies designed to identify and potentially prevent vehicles from being operated by persons intoxicated or otherwise impaired. Utilizing sensors and algorithms to passively monitor drivers for signs of impairment – including fatigue or excessive alcohol consumption – these systems can incorporate active testing, data analysis and even vehicle interruption as means of preventing drivers from continuing to drive while impaired.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at these systems, specifically focusing on how they work – so we’ll discuss breath sensors (often infrared-based to analyze exhaled air to detect alcohol content) and touch sensors (which analyze blood alcohol levels through a fingertip or palm), as well as other approaches currently in use or being explored.
Breath Sensors
These use a beam of infrared light to detect alcohol in the exhaled breath, after which this light is absorbed by the alcohol and the sensor measures the intensity of the remaining light to determine the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). These sensors are designed to integrate into the vehicle’s control systems, such as the gear shift or start button.
Touch Sensors
Touch-based systems utilize tissue spectroscopy, shining infrared light through the driver’s finger or palm. Into this situation comes blood alcohol management, wherein the alcohol in the blood absorbs specific wavelengths of infrared light and the sensor measures the changes in light intensity to determine the BAC.
These sensors are also designed to be integrated into the vehicle’s control systems, such as the aforementioned start button or gear shift.
How These Systems Work
Passive Detection
These systems often work in a passive manner, continuously monitoring the driver’s state.
System Activation
The systems may prompt the driver to take a breathalyzer test or use a touch-based system to verify the BAC if the alcohol sensor detects alcohol levels above a certain threshold.
Consequences
Should the systems detect impairment, it could prevent the car from starting or activate other safety features.
Other Approaches
Try to envision a society devoid of the specter of drunk driving…thousands of families would never have to experience that dreaded knock on the door or that call in the middle of the night from law enforcement about their loved one. What’s more, families would ultimately remain intact and together, while hundreds of thousands of people would never be injured.
From self-driving cars to driver monitoring systems that prove a driver is sober before he or she hits the road while determining whether a driver can safely operate a vehicle, additional approaches are helping us envision a world where tomorrow’s vehicles may spell the end of drunk driving.
Autonomous Vehicles
Self-driving cars, often referred to as autonomous vehicles, boast the potential to end drunk driving and the fatalities associated with them. Four key principles must be adhered to before something like this becomes the standard on the road: Support of federal regulatory framework, support of existing state regulatory system, support for evaluating the technology as it evolves and support for level four and five autonomous technologies.
Ignition Interlock
An ignition interlock is approximately the size of a cell phone, wired into the ignition system of a vehicle, and demands a previously convicted drunk driver blow into the device in order to start the vehicle; the motor vehicle won’t start if a measurable amount of alcohol is detected. This is a simple and cost-effective – from all accounts thus far – way to ensure offenders can drive to and from work, but not drunk.
Conclusion
Drunk driving is a serious problem in the U.S., resulting in thousands of injuries and deaths each year. It is estimated that drunk driving is responsible for 27% of all traffic deaths in the state of Georgia. To combat this issue, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that alcohol detection devices be installed in all new vehicles, which would, if successful, prevent intoxicated drivers from operating their vehicles and save countless lives.
They would also make it more difficult for individuals with a history of DUI or DWI to repeat their offenses, which could reduce the number of drunk driving incidents overall. This would provide peace of mind to those who have lost loved ones to drunk driving accidents.
