Submitted by Aiken Jacobsen on
Every year police see in an increase in drunk driving incidents around the holidays. California traffic safety officials decided to do something about it. In an effort to reduce drunk driving car accidents, the state has been piloting a new program to test the effectiveness of interlock ignition device systems.
Many of us have already heard of this technology but not many know exactly how it works. When a car is fitted with an interlock ignition device the driver must submit a breathalyzer test in order for the car to start. Like police breathalyzers, these devices measure the alcohol content detectable in our breath. If it reads higher than 0.03 the car will not start. The driver can try again in a few minutes but each time he fails the test the wait time to test again gets longer.
The device is also smart enough to determine the difference between human breath and regular forced air. It does this by measuring the temperature and pressure of the air sample. It is unable to detect if the sample is from the driver or someone else. That is why California has imposed strict penalties for falsifying a sample.
The use of these interlock ignition devices is part of an initiative which was started in July. Officials decided to test these devices in four counties. They are Los Angeles, Sacramento, Alameda, and Tulare. Officials chose these counties because of their high DUI rates. Since July all DUI offenders in these four counties have been required to have these devices installed in their cars.
The results of the program have not been released yet but officials are optimistic. Hopefully this new technology will keep us all safer by keeping drunk drivers' cars in park.
Source: The Sacramento Bee online, "Sacramento County to test breath device to prevent drunken driving," Matt Kawahara, 21 December 2010
