This week, the National Transportation Safety Board called for alcohol impairment detection systems to be included in all new vehicles.
According to a Tuesday press release from the NTSB, the new recommendation was inspired by a California crash that killed nine people last year. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that there is a drunk driving-related fatality every 45 minutes in the U.S.
Before the tragic incident on New Year’s Day 2021 in Avenal, Calif., an impaired driver in an SUV had been speeding south on State Route 33, said the NTSB. At the same time, a pickup truck with one driver and seven passengers age 6 to 15 years old was traveling north on the same roadway.
As the driver of the SUV accelerated to a speed between 88 and 98 m.p.h., they ran off the shoulder to the right. Then, the driver overcorrected to the left and crossed the centerline into the other lane, directly in front of the pickup truck. When the SUV collided head-on with the truck, it immediately caught fire.
“The SUV driver and all eight pickup truck occupants died,” said the NTSB.
An investigation into the crash revealed that the SUV driver “had a high level of alcohol intoxication” that, paired with excessive speed, contributed to their loss of control. It also revealed potential ways to cut down on drunk driving fatalities.
“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash – just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives.”
New measures recommended by the agency include a NHTSA requirement that all new vehicles be equipped with “passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems or a combination of the two that would be capable of preventing or limiting vehicle operation if it detects driver impairment by alcohol.”
According to the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety public-private partnership research program, “a first-of-its-kind technology called the Alcohol Detection System,” has been under development to “detect when a driver is intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08% – the legal limit in all 50 states except Utah – and prevent the car from moving.”
While technology could potentially cut down on traffic fatalities, Homendy noted that “we have to remember that technology is only part of the solution.” She said that “we need to look more broadly at the entire transportation system, which includes everything that can prevent a crash,” in order to prevent deaths.
In addition to drunk driving – which claimed an estimated 11,654 lives in 2020, a 14% increase over the previous year – speeding also contributes to traffic deaths and “research suggests is worsening,” according to the NTSB. In 2020, there were at least 11,258 fatalities in crashes in which at least one driver was speeding, according to NHTSA.
This week, the NTSB also recommended “incentivizing vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation systems to prevent speed-related crashes.”
Related
Related
