The most dangerous people traversing our roads these days are drunk drivers and texting/Facebooking/mobile phone distracted drivers. These people are taking the lives of innocent people trying to go about their day.

A new nationwide mandate was created when the House and Senate passed and Biden signed their massive infrastructure bill.  In that bill, there is a provision that call car manufacturers would have to create and install anti-drunk driving technology in all of their new cars starting with their 2026 model year.

How will they do so?  I found the following are:

“Standard ignition interlock device.  This is the go-to for many states, as it tests your breath sample (or that of anyone driving your vehicle) upon startup and periodically as the car is driven around. Most states require the device to prevent a driver from operating the vehicle if it detects a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02 – .025 percent or higher… which is roughly one standard drink for a 150 lb. person.

Interlock with camera. Virginia recently updated its statewide interlock requirement through VASAP to mandate that an offender can only use a camera-enabled ignition interlock device. The camera snaps a photo during each test (startup and rolling) to ensure that nobody is blowing into the device on behalf of the person driving.

Interlock with GPS. The most recent improvement to interlocks are those that are GPS-enabled. New York requires these, and they allow an offender’s location to be tracked, which is especially needed for those with restrictions on where they can and cannot drive.”

At this point in time, these devices would be based on a breath analyzer or blood.  I cannot see blood being used as a testing sample.

Is this the next step towards Big Brother monitoring us?  If you feel this way, how do we stop these people from driving drunk, harming and killing innocent people?

Will people just find a way to get around the devices?