Will technology stop drunk drivers?

Senator Sherrod Brown and others believe it can.

Cleveland) - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio is calling for passage of the Roads Safe Act.

The measure would fund a program to create a device that would prevent intoxicated motorists from being able to start a vehicle.

Speaking at Cleveland Police headquarters, Brown explained the bill would authorize $12 million in annual funding for five years for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety program.

He says the funding would be provided through money that the federal government has already appropriated for road safety initiatives, rendering the bill cost-neutral.

Supporting the legislation is Julie Leggett, the executive director of the northeast Ohio chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Leggett contends drunk driving has reached epidemic proportions in Ohio, with 122-thousand drivers on state roads with 3 or more DUI's, the third worst record in the nation.

Leggett doesn't feel it will be difficult to create technology that prevents a car from starting when its driver is intoxicated.

Also supporting the bill is Oxford Township firefighter Steve Westcott, who helped Erie County police apprehend a driver who is now facing his 11th DUI.

Westcott says he has seen the effects of drunk driving first hand as a first responder. He feels $12 million is a small price to pay for potentially saving many lives.

Brown claims existing devices, such as ignition locks, can be expensive and obtrusive. The main goal of the legislation is to make the new device smaller and less noticeable, so that parents could choose to install it in the car of their high school- or college-age child.

He maintains the legislation does not require this technology to be installed in any car, but would give families and law enforcement a new means of combating drunk driving.

Previous versions of the bill were supported by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Distilled Spirits Council, General Motors, and Nationwide Insurance.

SOURCE