Legislation would promote in-vehicle technology to prevent drunk driving
Washington, D.C. – With the support of local and state law enforcement officials, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and auto industry leaders, U.S. Representative Heath Shuler today announced that he has introduced the Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere, or ROADS SAFE Act. This bipartisan legislation would authorize $12 million of existing funding annually for five years for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program to develop in-vehicle technology to prevent drunk driving.
“Every year drunk drivers take thousands of innocent lives and cause tremendous devastation to countless families and communities in Western North Carolina and across the country,” said Rep. Shuler. “DADSS technology has the potential to be a game changer in the fight against drunk driving, but now we must take the next steps necessary to make sure it can be widely implemented. With this common sense legislation, we have the opportunity to stop drunk driving before it even starts.”
NHTSA has completed the early stages of development on a variety of emerging technologies to prevent drunk driving. These include sensors on the steering wheel or engine start button that determine a driver’s blood alcohol content, or sensors that passively monitor a driver’s breath or eye movements. A vehicle would not start if these sensors indicate the driver’s blood alcohol level is over .08, the legal alcohol limit.
The ROADS SAFE Act is widely supported by a range of organizations representing law enforcement officials, advocates for the prevention of drunk driving, and automakers. On Monday, Rep. Shuler introduced the legislation at a press conference in Asheville with Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) President-Elect Jan Withers, members of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Vice President of Safety Rob Strassburger, and local members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“This is a tremendousness day for the advancement of public safety in Western North Carolina,” said Henderson County Sheriff Rick Davis. “All of Western North Carolina has an extremely low homicide rate and we are indeed blessed to live in such a safe area of the United States. Yet at the same time families here face a high mortality rate at the hands of drunk drivers. Thanks to Congressman Shuler, the ROADS SAFE ACT will ultimately result in far fewer people being killed and/or severely injured as a result of drunk drivers which plague the safety of all.”
"MADD is profoundly grateful for Congressman Shuler's leadership toward the elimination of drunk driving," said MADD President-Elect Jan Withers. "The ROADS SAFE Act holds the promise of turning cars into the cure and making drunk driving a thing of the past."
“We appreciate Representative Shuler’s leadership on this important issue,” said Shane Karr, Vice
President of Government Affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Alcohol-related crashes are the number one killer on the nation’s highways; and in North Carolina, drunk driving accounts for more than one in four traffic fatalities, so this legislation and the research it supports can affect families across the state. Nationwide, the DADSS program has the potential to save more than 8,000 lives so this is a research program that can truly create generational safety benefits.”
The ROADS SAFE Act is currently under review in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, of which Rep. Shuler is a member. Companion legislation in the U.S. Senate is under review in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
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