Alcohol Detectors for All Cars?

Many courts now require repeat drunk drivers to install ignition-interlock devices on their cars, which prevent the vehicle from starting if any alcohol is detected in the driver. But some now say the devices should be installed on every new car, USA Today reported April 27.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) officials say the idea has merit, and New York lawmakers are considering mandating the devices on all new cars staring in 2009. Volvo and Saab plan to offer consumers an optional interlock device mounted on the driver's seat belt within the next few years.

"If the public wants it and the data support it, it is literally possible that the epidemic of drunk drinking could be solved where cars simply could not be operated by drunk drivers," says Chuck Hurley, CEO of MADD. "What a great day that would be."

The next wave of interlock devices are likely to utilize skin tests, not breath tests, to check for alcohol use. MADD doesn't believe the technology is good enough yet to require the devices on all cars, however.

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, the sponsor of the New York bill, also was the sponsor of the first law banning hand-held cell-phone use while driving.

About 70,000 interlock devices are currently installed on vehicles, mostly because of court orders.