Congressman Looking to Stop Drunk Driving By Requiring Alcohol Sensors in New Cars

In an attempt to stop all drunk driving, a new bill in Congress would fund development of alcohol detecting sensors in vehicles, to be required in all new vehicles. Congressman Heath Shuler (R-NC) has introduced legislation that would authorize funding for the ROADS SAFE Act, which stands for Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere.

The goal of the technology would be to passively sense alcohol impairment of the driver. It could be done via some combination of alcohol detection through the skin by touching the steering wheel (Similar to SCRAM bracelets), passive breath detection, or scanning for irregular eye movements.

Congressmen Shuler believes that such technology, if applied and mandated in all new vehicles, could wipe out drunk driving.

As we’ve noted before, there are serious concerns about many “big brother” aspects of this proposal. Does it violate Constitutional rights about evidence, and rights against self incrimination? Who controls the data, how is it used (and challenged) in court?

And what is the margin for error with such a system? Is it always set at .08%, the exact legal limit, or would it be set lower, for liability purposes, as this editorial suggests. And even a tiny false positive rate is going to cause huge problems when scaled up the entire driving populations.

Even if such a system were to work perfectly and flawlessly, there are still going to be problems and unintended consequences. As Atrios notes, people should be allowed to weigh one undesirable action against the alternatives. It is easy to imagine a scenario where a person might prefer to risk driving a .08% BAC to escape an abusive or dangerous situation, take a sick person to the doctor if there were no other options, leave a freezing cold home with no power, and other situations.

And if it makes sense for the government to risk this action, then surely there are more things they can do with car technology in the name of public safety.

  • The car should not start if the person behind the wheel is not a valid licensed driver. Easy to detect once they have installed an RFID chip under your skin.
  • It goes without saying that all cars should be restricted to never drive over 8o mph. Or they can be tied to the exact posted speed limit, which can be broadcast to the car as it drives by the electronic speed limit regulators. We can completely eliminate reckless driving by speed, a criminal charge in Virginia.

How about gun laws? What if they could develop a technology to install in handguns that the weapon would only fire if you were threatened or in danger?

These are basic questions about how much power we want to give the government to regulate and manage behavior and choices, and what control and ability we will allow them to enforce those choices.

About David Matson