FOOTLOOSE AND…
Drunken driving kills 10,000 Americans each year. Now a technological breakthrough may virtually eliminate this horrendous problem.
How to achieve this momentous breakthrough? Either touch-sensitive contact points on a starter button or gear-shift or a set of breath sensors at these locations will immediately register the level of alcohol in the blood stream. If the driver registers above the legal limit, he/she would not be able to start the car.
The technology is already here, noted Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“The message today is not can we do this,” he said, “but how soon can we do this.”
He promised he will push to get the technology finalized, field tested and put into use before the current estimates of five to eight years.
The cost for operable sensors, once general production takes over, is estimated at $150 to $250 per vehicle.
“There is not going to be a parent who isn’t going to want this in their child’s car,” Rosekind enthused. “There is not going to be a business that’s not going to want this in their vehicles.”
Amen to Rosekind’s predictions. And, if possible, let’s beat his timetable, too!
