The ultimate crash avoidance system
In 2010, drunk driving represented 31 percent of all highway deaths, equating to 10,228 lives lost. Another 350,000 people were injured in drunk-driving crashes. The cost of this epidemic to our country was $132 billion. However, to me, these aren’t just numbers. My 15-year-old daughter, Alisa, was killed in a drunk driving crash. And while drunk-driving deaths have been reduced by more than half in the 32 years since Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was founded, we still have much work to do.
A cutting edge research project called DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) is currently underway and could one day eliminate drunk driving in our country. The project seeks to develop an in-vehicle technology to seamlessly and passively detect a driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The program to develop this lifesaving technology is a joint effort between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, comprised of the world’s leading auto manufacturers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.