CNN
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The federal agency responsible for conducting independent crash investigations has recommended technology in new cars to limit speed limits and prevent impaired driving to reduce the growing number of fatal crashes.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation for alcohol impairment detection systems is on track to become a requirement. Infrastructure Investments and Labor Law It gave the Department of Transportation three years to come up with a mandate for such a feature in new cars. Council recommended again the promotion of speed-adaptive systems has yet to gain wider federal support and may be resisted by speed-accustomed US drivers imposed by law enforcement rather than the vehicle itself.
The NTSB’s recommendations — which cannot be implemented without approval by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — specifically require all new vehicles to have “vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems, advanced driver monitoring systems, or a combination of the two if it detects a driver is impaired by alcohol.” , has the ability to prevent or limit the operation of the vehicle.
Echoing a recommendation made in 2017, the NTSB also suggested NHTSA encourage “automobile manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) systems that will prevent speed-related crashes.”
Intelligent cruise control systems can range from a warning system that provides visual or audible warnings when the driver exceeds the speed limit, to a system that electronically limits the vehicle’s speed. The NTSB did not specify which type of system would be adopted.
An investigation into a California crash that killed nine people, including seven children, on New Year’s Day 2021 prompted the recommendations Tuesday, according to the NTSB. Investigators determined “the driver of the SUV (involved in the crash) had a high level of alcohol consumption and was driving at excessive speed,” the agency said.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday that the technologies “could prevent tens of thousands of deaths from driving and speeding accidents that we see every year in the United States.”
According to the NHTSA, 32 people die each day in alcohol-related crashes — more than 11,000 each year. It reported a 5% increase in deaths in 2021.
There are a number of technologies aimed at preventing poor driving that is appreciated By the Department of Transport, according to advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The department was given three years to develop a requirement that new vehicles have “advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology” as part of an infrastructure law passed last year with bipartisan support.
NHTSA said in a statement Monday that it is “initiating work to fulfill the requirement of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to adopt a rule regarding advanced impaired driving technology in vehicles.”
Such technologies include cameras and sensors inside the vehicle that monitor the driver’s head and eyes to determine whether the driver is intoxicated and subsequently immobilize the vehicle, and cameras and sensors outside the vehicle that monitor the driver’s performance.
There is a promising arrangement has raised privacy concerns and questions about whether systems misclassify some people, such as those with disabilities, as drunk.
It has gained some interest in the European market, where it will have intelligent cruise control systems mandatory On all new cars sold there from July 2024. The new cars will offer either “cascading acoustic warning”, “cascading vibration warning”, “haptic feedback via the accelerator pedal” or “cruise control function”. According to the European Commission. The commission says the driver can override the ISA system.
New York City is also testing a fleet of city vehicles with the ISA system. City announced In August, 50 vehicles operated by city workers will have systems that determine the maximum speed for the vehicle and will be “adjusted to local speed limits as well.” The system has an active mode that automatically slows down the vehicle and a passive mode that alerts the driver when the speed limit is exceeded.
The vehicles will be retrofitted and installed in vehicles in various city departments and will also be tested in 14 new, all-electric Ford Mach Es.
This story has been updated with comment from NHTSA.
