NTSB recommends techniques to reduce drunk driving and speeding in new vehicles



CNN

The federal agency responsible for conducting independent accident investigations has recommended technologies in new vehicles to reduce speed and prevent idle driving in an effort to reduce an increasing number of related fatal accidents.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation on alcohol impairment detection systems is on the way toward requirements, after Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Give the Department of Transportation three years to craft an authorization for such a feature in new vehicles. Plates Recommend From incentivizing smart speed adaptive systems, however, it has yet to gain broader federal support and could face resistance from American drivers accustomed to speed limits being enforced by law enforcement rather than the car itself.

The NTSB recommendations – which cannot be implemented without being approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – specifically include requiring all new vehicles to have “alcohol detection systems built into passive vehicles, advanced driver monitoring systems or a combination of the two.” which will be able to prevent or limit the operation of the vehicle if it detects a driver’s alcohol disability.”

Reiterating a recommendation made in 2017, the NTSB also suggested that the NHTSA incentivize “vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt Intelligent Speed ​​Adaptation Systems (ISA) that would prevent speed-related accidents.”

Intelligent cruise control systems can range from a warning system that issues visual or audible alerts when the driver is accelerating to a system that electronically limits the vehicle’s speed. The NTSB did not specify what type of system should be adopted.

The investigation into the California crash that killed nine people, including seven children, on New Year’s Day in 2021 led to recommendations on Tuesday, according to the NTSB. The agency said that investigators “found that the driver of the SUV (involved in the accident) was suffering from a high rate of alcohol poisoning and was operating at excessive speed.”

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NTSB President Jennifer Homedy said Tuesday that the technologies “could prevent tens of thousands of deaths from driving and speed-related disabilities that we see in the United States annually.”

According to the NHTSA, 32 people die from alcohol-related crashes every day—more than 11,000 each year. It reported that deaths rose by 5% in 2021.

There are a number of technologies aimed at preventing disruptive driving which is evaluated by the Department of Transportation, according to the “Moms Against Drunk Driving” group. The department was given three years to craft a requirement that new cars feature “advanced technology to prevent drunken and impaired driving” as part of the Infrastructure Act, which was passed with bipartisan support last year.

The NHTSA said in a statement Monday that it “has begun work to meet the requirements of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to establish rules related to advanced vehicle immobilized driving technology.”

These technologies include cameras and sensors outside the vehicle that monitor driving performance, cameras and sensors inside the vehicle that monitor the driver’s head and eyes, and alcohol sensors to determine if the driver is drunk and thus prevent the vehicle from moving.

His prospective organization Raised privacy concerns and questions about whether regulations would wrongly classify some people, such as people with disabilities, as intoxicated.

Intelligent speed adaptive systems have gained some momentum in the European market, where they will be Is mandatory In all new cars sold there as of July 2024. New cars will emit either a “consecutive acoustic warning,” “consecutive vibration warning,” “haptic feedback through the accelerator pedal,” or a “cruise control function” According to the European Commission. The commission says the driver can bypass the ISA system.

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New York City is also piloting a fleet of city vehicles with an ISA system in place. City announce In August, 50 vehicles operated by city employees will have systems that limit a vehicle’s top speed and “will also be adaptive based on the local speed limit.” The system has an active mode, which will automatically slow the car, and a passive mode, which will alert the driver when he is going fast.

The vehicles will be modified and installed in cars across a variety of city divisions, and will also be tested on 14 all-electric Ford Macks.

This story has been updated with a comment from NHTSA.

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