This morning, I had the pleasure of joining Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland to speak at a press conference in Waltham, MA about the exciting progress that has been made in the development of technology that might one day eliminate drunk driving!
We have renewed hope that the cure for drunk driving is on the horizon. Turning cars into the cure is now a reality that might be seen in our automobiles in the next 8-10 years. The folks at Qinetiq are working very hard to test two potential technologies that could prevent the car from being operational if the driver is at or above .08 BAC.
Human subject testing (testing the potential technologies in a controlled laboratory setting as the person is given measured amounts of alcohol at specific times) has already taken place. The results have been very encouraging and I’ll write more about that at a later time.
Our Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving hits the five year mark this fall. Imagine…in less than 5 years from now, a research car that is equipped with one or both of these technologies will have been operational for several years and we will be even closer to our goal of eliminating drunk driving.
I am more passionate about the potential to get this cure in cars than I ever have been before! It is possible!
Let’s all keep our focus on making sure that Congress knows we need this technology to not only save lives and prevent injuries, but to save our country millions of dollars in damages from drunk driving.
