NHTSA takes first step toward having drunk driving prevention technology installed in new passenger vehicles
WASHINGTON D.C. - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Wednesday regarding impaired driving, marking the first step toward making prevention technology standard in new passenger vehicles.
The move helps fulfill a requirement set forth in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress in 2021.
"This notice helps lay the groundwork for potential alcohol-impairment detection technology standards in all new passenger vehicles when the technology is mature," the agency said in a news release. "Alcohol impairment is one of the leading causes of death on our nation’s roads. In 2021, the latest data available, 13,384 people were killed in drunk driving crashes."
The NHTSA said impaired driving prevention technology is an action identified in the National Roadway Safety Strategy to significantly reduce fatalities and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways "in support of our vision of zero traffic deaths through vehicle features that promote driver safety and align with the principles of a safe system approach."
File: Traffic
"It is tragic that drunk driving crashes are one of the leading causes of roadway fatalities in this country and far too many lives are lost," said Polly Trottenberg, the U.S Department of Transportation’s Deputy Secretary. "I want to applaud the NHTSA team, elected officials and advocates who helped get us to today and will continue to help lay the groundwork on this issue."
The notice will help gather information about the state of technology to detect impaired driving, about how to deploy technology safely and effectively, and will provide other information to further the agency’s work as the research and technology advances to the level of developing a standard to prevent driver impairment, the agency said.
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The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directs NHTSA to issue a final rule establishing a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that requires new passenger vehicles to have "advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology."
Rendering of anti-drunk driving technology.
The law says that NHTSA should issue a new regulation only if it meets the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which states that a proposed standard must be reasonable, practicable, and reduce traffic crashes and associated deaths, among other factors.
Alcohol-impaired fatalities in the month of December hit a nearly 15-year high in 2021. The holiday season is an especially deadly time, with more than 1,000 people killed in drunk driving crashes in December 2021 alone.