Feds Looking Into Mandatory Breathalizers
Eric Peters' blog at the National Motorists Association explores efforts to make breathalyzers mandatory on all U.S vehicles. Peters zeros-in on the Driver Alcohol Detection System For Safety (DADSS), a $10m taxpayer-funded partnership between the industry-funded Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DADSS is hot for new, "less intrusive" breathalyzers; specifically gizmos that measure blood alcohol content (BAC) through the driver's skin (via steering wheel-mounted sensors). While acknowledging America's 9k annual drunk driving deaths, Peters is not pleased at the prospect of treating every motorist like a convicted drunk driver, He's also displeased that consumers would be expected to shoulder the additional costs of this new "standard equipment." More proof that freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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It will never happen. There is simply too much money being earned by the DUI industry to actually stop DUIs from happening. Every DUI results in at least a $10k cash infusion from normally law abiding (read - working and tax paying) citizens. Between all the lawyer fees, fines, special fines, fees, mandates, insurance premiums, and so on, there is a lot of incentive to keep this "industry" humming along nicely as it is. If they really, really, wanted to stop DUIs. Then they would simply give mandatory 20 year prison sentences for the offense. No fines. No money involved to taint the objectiveness of law enforcement. It may sound harsh, but I guarantee that no one would risk drinking and driving. Those that do, the hard core alcoholics, will eventually be caught and then sit and rot in prison.
Any thing that can be beaten by a hand driven air pump and a pair of rubber gloves just isn't worth doing.