Federal automobile regulators have announced their plans to make technology that prevents drunk and impaired driving a standard feature in new cars, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This move is aimed at addressing a problem that claims the lives of thousands of people in the United States each year.

The NHTSA, in an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, has initiated the preliminary stage to develop new federal regulations. This step will enable regulators to gather information about the current state of technology used to detect and prevent impaired driving and assess the feasibility of implementing it nationwide.

Various technologies are being explored, including breath and touch sensors to detect alcohol consumption, as well as eye-tracking cameras to detect inhibited behavior, as reported by Reuters. These advancements hold the potential to significantly reduce the number of impaired driving incidents and save countless lives.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) welcomed the NHTSA's announcement and emphasized the urgency of implementing the technology. Tess Rowland, the national president of MADD, who herself was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 2021, underlined the importance of preventing further tragedies. MADD pledged to actively support the implementation of the technology.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers, issued a statement indicating that they are reviewing the NHTSA's announcement. The group emphasized that automobile manufacturers are consistently striving to make vehicles safer and smarter, with a focus on addressing avoidable accidents caused by behaviors such as drunk driving.

Drunk driving remains one of the leading causes of death on the roads, with NHTSA reporting 13,384 fatalities resulting from drunk driving crashes in 2021 alone. The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law mandates the development of a federal standard requiring new passenger vehicles to incorporate technology that prevents drunk and impaired driving. The standard must be deemed "reasonable" and "practicable" and must demonstrate a clear potential to reduce crashes and fatalities.

As federal regulators begin the process of incorporating this life-saving technology into new cars, hopes are high that it will significantly combat the problem of impaired driving. By preventing individuals from getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, countless lives will be spared from the devastating consequences of such accidents.