As part of an official report it issued on a New Year’s Day 2021 deadly drunk driving crash that killed nine people, the National Transportation Safety Board made a recommendation that would require all new vehicles to have “passive vehicle-integrated alcohol impairment detection systems…that would be capable of preventing or limiting vehicle operation if it detects driver impairment by alcohol.”
An average of 32 people are killed in alcohol-related crashes every day, according to data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . That adds up to more than 11,000 people every year. And that figure rose by about 5 percent in 2021, according to NHTSA. “And that is unacceptable by something that is 100% preventable,” said Alex Otte, National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving . “It is not an accident. It is not a mistake. It is a choice. And people are continuing to make the choice to take the lives of other people into their hands. So, when we know that there are tools to prevent us and to prevent people from being killed or injured by the actions of another we are so supportive.