Ontario Drivers: Could Your Steering Wheel Prevent You from Driving Drunk?
Canadian school buses are piloting a new device designed to prevent drunk drivers from operating their vehicles. Steering wheels designed to analyze blood-alcohol levels are being introduced in some buses, and there is potential for expansion into other vehicles.
According to The Chronicle Herald, Sober Steering, a startup based in Waterloo, Ontario, has created a device that offers an alternative to the Breathalyzer, and might even prevent drunk drivers from even starting their cars.
The steering wheels are equipped with sensors that monitor the blood alcohol level through the skin. With the Sober Steering sensor properly installed, a driver can’t start the car until after he or she has placed hands on the wheel and been “cleared.” While driving, there are expectations that the driver will continue to “check in” with the system, since the sensor can measure blood alcohol through the skin of the palms five minutes later. This is to ensure that the driver isn’t drinking while driving.
For now, the sensors are mostly being installed in school buses. Reports of intoxicated school bus drivers have been a regular occurrence throughout North America, according to The Chronicle Herald, and Sober Steering is rolling out first to see if Canadian bus drivers, at least, can be prevented from driving drunk.
Other uses for Sober Steering with commercial fleets, such as construction vehicles and semi-trucks, are also being contemplated. And who knows? At some point, Sober Steering might even become a part of private vehicles in an effort to keep drunk drivers off the road, benefitting the safety of us all.
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