Nissan Turns to Technology to Stop Drunk Driving

StonyandCher writes with a ComputerWorld story about new efforts by Nissan to reduce the danger of intoxicated drinkers through technology. A trio of new features installed in a prototype vehicle demonstrated this past week are designed to minimize the damage a drunk behind the wheel can cause. "The first [system] attempts to directly detect alcohol in the driver's sweat and gear shift lever. A second system in the car uses a camera mounted in front of the driver to monitor eye movement. If the driver is drowsy it triggers the seat belt to tighten and this movement will hopefully snap the driver out of their drowsiness or prompt them to take a rest. A third system monitors the path of the vehicle to ensure it's traveling in a straight line and not weaving about the road, as is common with a drunken driver."

What About Bartenders or Waiters?

[Gryle]

Will the car detect the alcohol on their hands (but not in their systems) and refuse to let them drive?

Re:Mandatory?

[ozmanjusri]

But if it's not made mandatory, who would buy it?

Companies.

We've been trialling a system which uses special glasses to monitor the eye movements of dump truck drivers in open cut mining. The goal is to identify impairment - not just drugs and alcohol, but fatigue, illness or anything which might affect the operator's ability to control the vehicle.

In the system we use, the monitoring computer has a three-stage alarm, first notifying the driver and their supervisor of the potential for impairment, second stage suggesting that the operator park up at first opportunity, and in the third stage, loud alarms in both the truck and control room. Third stage also throttles back the truck.

Fully loaded, these trucks mass in excess of 400 tonnes, so any accident is going to be significant. How valuable it will be to transfer the technology to cars is uncertain, but I'd say there are plenty of circumstances where the consequences outweigh the costs, even for small vehicles.

Re:Probably a bad idea.

[Dachannien]

Probably a bad idea. It will encourage drivers to drive drunk.

ABS compensates when the driver brakes too hard, but does not discourage the driver from taking such action in the future. A drunk-driving detector won't compensate for your poor driving while drunk, but it will instead warn you of your impairment to discourage you from continuing to drive. Those are two very different concepts.

Re:This looks like a legal nightmare to me....

[kamapuaa]

If the people being injured or killed are people other than the driver, it's no longer a question of being a nanny state, or personal responsibility. It becomes a matter of public interest to stop something very dangerous - isn't that what government's for?

You could make pretty much the exact same lunatic nanny state arguments about speed limits, or speed bumps. And there's other laws, widely accepted, which are a much stronger infringements of personal liberty - seatbelt laws, for instance. Or motorcycle helmet laws, or car safety regulations, or airbag requirements, or "lemon" laws.

There is no fundamental right to drive drunk. If this technology can be implemented successfully, the inventors should win the Nobel prize, the Pulitzer price, and possibly a special Academy Award.

Re:This is excellent

[jjacksonRIAB]

As far as I know they already have a breathalyser system that is installed in the vehicles of repeat offenders during some kind of probationary period, or at least they made regular use of it in Fremont County, CO.

DUI is definitely a serious problem. I used to live in an apartment adjoining a bar parking lot, and I have had my vehicles hit 4 times in the space of a year, witnessed one drunk driver smash into 5 vehicles while attempting to escape pedestrians trying to forcibly remove him from a car, only to escape later into the neighborhood and have seen an exhorbitant number of assault cases centering around alcohol use.

Despite being a freedom lover, for a while there it came to the point of me standing outside in the parking lot with a 12 gauge shotgun just to ensure things were going well and traffic was exiting smoothly. Sometimes I wonder if irresponsible bar owners should not also be fined for helping to create a public nuisance for not cutting the people off when they should. I can count on the fingers of my right hand the number of cabs that were called in that time I lived there, and I will never forget how disgusted I was by the level of irresponsibility people display.

Even still, I don't think it is right that *I* should be subsidizing elimination of this behavior in terms of higher vehicle prices. I've already wasted enough time on those morons not to have to work for them as well.

Re:Mandatory?

[untaken_name]

A decade in jail? For that? What, are you insane? We should just kill them outright. Actually, we should just execute anyone found guilty of *any* crime. That way, there'd be far less crime. Or, far fewer people. Any way I look at it, it's a win. Just to be fair, though, NO ONE gives a shit about anyone else on the road. Or haven't you driven, lately?

Re:Mandatory?

[ozmanjusri]

Give people the chance to fix themselves before alerting their supervisors.

It's not an oppositional situation.

The trial was run in very close consultation with the employees. They, and their supervisors understand that the fatigue or impairment the machines are measuring is a hazard to be managed carefully, not a reason for disciplinary action.

The data collected by the system is also useful in planning things like break times and alertness aids like spot quizzes. This is the system, if you're interested;
http://www.optalert.com/johns_drowsiness_scale.htm l [optalert.com]

Alcohol-containing oral rinse solutions?

[wikinerd]

Would this system work with people who regularly use lots of alcohol-containing oral rinses?

Re:Wake Me Up When Its Cheap

[awtbfb]

On the other hand, the sleep detection system would be a godsend. If the price was right, I would happily get one of those things installed.

This exists for truck drivers. I don't know what the price is for regular consumers, but these units [attentiontechnology.com] have been on the market for a few years. The nice thing about this system is that it warns you about being tired before you start weaving all over the road. The lead time gives you a chance to find a place to rest. The system also lets you see your drowsiness build up so you can take a break before things get bad.

Disclaimer: I was involved in a university research project that led to the product. I have no involvement in the company. And yes, drowsy drivers can and do travel the length of a football field with their eyes closed.