There have been one too many road kills at the hands of alcohol. Therefore, there are plans for Sen. Chuck Schumer to drive out drunk driving through a new bill he is backing that will effectively require all cars to have an alcohol detecting mechanisms that would prevent the driver from going on irresponsibly.
It’s perfect timing for the Democrat representative, considering that just last week four women were killed in an accident in Long Island. Their deaths could’ve been prevented were it not for the drunk driver running amok through the streets.
This is just the latest and most severe case of DWI accidents. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that in 2013 alone there were 10 thousand deaths across the nation in accidents involving drivers who had been drinking. This is close to a third of total accidents involving motor powered vehicles.
The bill in question that is said to be able to put an end to all death relating to drunk driving. Although Mr. Schumer has pushed just this Sunday for its passing and for attributing federal funding to the bill, it was originally proposed by Tom Udall, the New Mexico Senator also of the Democrat party.
Schumer has stated in its defense that the technology, called DADSS is feasible and only needs perfecting so as to assure it’s applicable to all vehicles. DADSS would restrict all people who want to use the car while having high alcohol levels in their blood. They would not be able to start the car. A touch and breath system would be required, and would ask for samples before each start.
The technology was funded, up to now, by the NHTSA in collaboration with an industrial team called the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.
The bill, unimaginatively called The Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-Related Fatalities Everywhere Act if passed, would give as much as $48 million to the DADSS program. However, the technology would not be required, at least in its early stages. Schumer says that people will have to decide whether they want it or not, and those caught drunk-driving will be required by law to purchase it.
Still, naturally, there is opposition to this bill. Mainly from the ABI (American Beverage Institute), which says that, basically the senators are being dishonest, and that their ultimate goal would of course be to have the device everywhere. The institute maintains that this would considerably reduce recreational drinking, to the point of making citizens paranoid of drinking even if responsibly.
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