Drunk driving is a serious problem, and to combat the issue, a coalition of safety advocates have requested that congress approves a $60 million five-year research program to develop new methods of in-car alcohol detection.

The coalition, representing groups and companies from anti-drunk driving organizations to the auto insurance industry, signed a letter sent to leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, calling on them to include the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program in the next round of funding for surface transportation programs.

"The goal of this research program is to develop a publicly supported technology for vehicles that will instantaneously and passively detect if a driver is drunk (above the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol concentration [BAC]) and prevent the vehicle from starting," the letter to Republican and Democratic leaders said.

Aimed at preventing drunken drivers from attempting to get behind the wheel, the DADSS program is studying new methods of alcohol detection that are more accurate, cheaper and less invasive, such as touch sensors on the steering wheel, and sensors that monitor a motorist's breath or eye movements.

The new systems, once developed and tested, would be integrated into vehicles voluntarily as an optional safety feature and not only would it give drivers piece of mind that there's no question of their sobriety, but it would also yield cheaper auto insurance rates.

Those cheaper rates will come to consumers due to the auto insurance industry's overwhelming support of the DADSS program, and for good reason.

Alcohol-related accidents cost an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), including more than $51 million in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life losses, all of which is money that is coming out of the accounts of insurance companies.

However, not everyone is supporting the program, with critics from the American Beverage Institute (ABI) urging both chambers of Congress to reject the research program claiming efforts would be better spent on reducing the speed of vehicles.

"Limiting car speeds would increase safety without stranding thousands of innocent people," ABI Managing Director Sarah Longwell said in a news release.  "We all want to increase traffic safety, but to do this we should focus on policies that target drunk drivers, not all Americans."

Officials say research is still at an early stage, but they believe that alcohol detection devices could be integrated into vehicles within a decade.

—AJ Register