Into the future

• Author: Nathan Baker
• Pages: 135-146

CHAPTER

II

Into

the

Future

In

the

area

of

impaired

driving,

new

views

are

emerging

constantly.

For

example,

years

ago

it

was

unthinkable

that

requiring

passengers

to

wear

seatbelts

could

be

considered

as

important

as

zero

tolerance

for

drink



ing

and

driving,

but

now

it

is.

As

time

goes

by,

the

experience

of

driv



ing

will

continue

to

change

and

the

law

regarding

impaired

driving

will

change

with

it.

Technology,

public

perception

of

the

offence,

and

treat



ment

under

the

law

are

in

a

state

of

constant

evolution.

For

alcohol-impaired

driving,

the

US

National

Highway

Traffic

Safety

Administration

(NHTSA)

and

the

Automotive

Coalition

for

Traffic

Safety

(ACTS)

have

partnered

on

the

Driver

Alcohol

Detection

System

for

Safety

(DADSS).

Begun

in

2008,

this

endeavour

seeks

to

produce

a

viable

tech



nology

to

screen

drivers

quickly

for

alcohol,

and

immobilize

vehicles

where

the

driver

has

a

BAC

above

a

set

range

(defaulted

to

over

80

mgs

of

alcohol

in

100

ml

of

blood

but

available

to

be

lowered

by

the

user).

AUTOMATED

SYSTEMS

FOR

DETECTING

IMPAIRMENT

Currently,

two

separate

detection

methods

are

being

considered:

first,

a

breath-based

system,

and

second,

a

touch-based

system.

The

breath

sys



tem

would

use

distant/offset

spectrometry

to

remotely

measure

alcohol

in

the

driver

’

s

breath,

whereas

the

touch-based

system

would

use

tissue

spectrometry

through

physical

contact

of

the

skin

to

the

device.

135