Schumer Pushes Legislation to Develop Technology to Immobilize Cars When Alcohol is Detected - Will Prevent Drinkers from Driving

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by anti-drunk driving law enforcement, victims of drunk drivers and advocates for increased road safety, pushed Schumer sponsored legislation to foster research and development of in-car technology to fight the scourge of drunk driving. Schumer's legislation would create a consortium to drastically curb drunk driving by funding a partnership between anti-drunk driving advocates, large car companies and the federal government to design devices that prevent intoxicated people from ever turning on the car.

"Drunk driving is scourge that touches countless families in the Capital Region and it's time to take a fresh approach to this problem that will keep drinkers from even starting a car," Schumer said. "This research will provide a new tool for parents and law enforcement to make sure that families and communities stay safe."

Schumer said that drunk driving kills thousands of people across the country every year and hundreds of people in New York -- many of them teens -- but only 2% of drunk drivers are caught. Schumer said that existing devices, such as ignition locks, are expensive and obtrusive and that future technology has to be unnoticeable, so that it doesn't inconvenience a sober driver, and so that people can choose to install it in the car of a teen who is learning to drive or going off to college.

Standing at the Albany Correctional Facility, Schumer was joined by Dean Bodnar whose daughter tragically died in an accident that could have been prevented if the drunk driver was not able to get behind the wheel. Since his daughter passed, Dean has fought hard to prevent other families from having to experience what he did by traveling around the region and discussing the dangers of drunk driving. Schumer was also was joined by Richard McNally, Rensselaer County's District Attorney; James Murphy, Saratoga County District Attorney; Sgt. Lenny Crouch, Albany County's Stop-DWI Coordinator; Craig Apple, Albany County's Undersheriff and Mary Tanner-Richter, the Chief of the DWI and Vehicular Crimes Bureau for Albany County.

The Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere (ROADS SAFE) Act, would authorize $12 million in annual funding for five years for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program to develop in-vehicle technology to prevent drunk driving. The funding would be provided through money that the federal government has already appropriated for road safety initiatives, therefore making the legislation revenue neutral and not adding to the deficit.

NHTSA and DADSS would use the funding to explore a variety of emerging technologies designed to reduce drunken driving crashes. Currently, some devices exist to stop drunk driving, but too often the devices can be manipulated to allow a drunk driver to get behind the wheel. The legislation would promote innovations that create a fail-safe device so that no drunk driver can start their car.

This new approach would bring together the government, non-profits and car companies to form a consortium. The consortium would be tasked with developing new technologies that would curb drunk driving in a way that protects Americans on the road and allows car manufacturers to produce high quality vehicles. Under the program, the technologies explored would include devices that determine a driver's blood alcohol level by touching the steering wheel or engine start button, as well as sensors that passively monitor a driver's breath or eye movements. If the sensors indicate that the driver's blood alcohol level is over the legal limit, the vehicle would not start- stopping a drunk driver before their vehicle gets on the road and endangers others.

This legislation does not require this technology to be installed in any car, but it will give law enforcement and parents a new tool. For example, a judge could require a repeat offender to have a monitor installed in his or her car. A parent could purchase one of the steering wheels to be installed on the family car as they are teaching their teenager to drive or on a car they are sending off to college with a recent high school grad. The scourge of drunk driving in New York has continued to plague families and communities across the state. Currently, New York ranks in the top 10 in the country for alcohol related driving deaths. In 2008 alone, 472 fatalities in New York were caused by drivers that tested positive for alcohol, and 395 of those were above the legal limit.

Schumer, said that this is a particularly important time of the year to raise awareness regarding drunk driving with summer upon us. Each year, dozens of teens are killed in alcohol related incidents driving to or from prom or other summer celebrations. The bipartisan ROADS SAFE Act was sponsored by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) and is supported by a wide range of organizations representing automakers and advocates for the prevention of drunk driving, including:

? Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

? Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers

? American Academy of Pediatrics

? The Century Council

? Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS)

? General Motors

? Governors Highway Safety Association

? Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

? National Safety Council

? Nationwide Insurance

? Safe Kids USA

Schumer added, "All it takes is one drunk driver to rip apart a family and with 168 people killed in the Capital Region since 2004 the status quo is something we can't afford. We need a new approach and we need to begin working on it right away."

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