Don't Drink and Drive - because this car will stop you
Drink driving is a killer, with almost one in three crash fatalities in Ireland being related to alcohol consumption. Globally, as much as a quarter of traffic accidents involve people who are suffering the effects of alcohol. This has to stop and new technology could help to curb the issue.
Science-sorts in American are working on a number of solutions to the problem, including simply stopping people from driving while under the influence. They do this in a number of ways, including sophisticated sensors which can be mounted on the door or steering wheel and are capable of sensing the alcohol on your breath even with a limited sample.
They're also working on a version which would be attached to the ignition button and quickly tests your Blood Alcohol Content. If you're over the legal limit, the car won't start and you'll have to find another way of getting home.
The video shows that these measures can also be scaleable - for instance lowering the limit to zero in the case of people under the age of 21 in the US, something which could perhaps be implemented for those with prevoius DUI convictions or issues with alcohol dependence.
There's no legislation in place to make this a requirement on vehicles and the organisations involved say that the tech won't be ready for public use for at least another five years. But hopefully, with help like this and other systems currently in the works, we might be looking at a future with less tragic road fatalities.
