Local cultists are shitting about the "alcohol monitoring system" in cars in 6 years

[Orrex]

Purportedly on page 1066. Can someone help me to understand?

[Phoenix61]

1. I don't know about all cars but I think it's a great idea.

It’s a device connected to the ignition. You blow and if you’re not impaired the car will start. Some places allow those convicted of DUI to drive for work etc if they have one installed on their vehicle.

[Calculating]

3. It's a horrifying idea if it's required for all cars

It's fine if only required for dui offenders. Sounds like even more expense added to cars, a potential reliability issue, and just plain inconvenient.

[ColinC]

5. How is that horrible? Nobody should drive if they are over the limit.

No matter what. And a device like this would only make certain of that.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

10. Oh, right. Great until it breaks and costs $1000 to fix ...

It's also incredibly intrusive, and very easily defeated/subverted.

Fuck that noise.

[ColinC]

16. Solid point.

Thanks

[Calculating]

13. That's why we have DUI laws

To punish those who do, we don't punish everyone else.

[ColinC]

19. I disagree that laws are all we need to protect each other

If a device like this could be assured to work perfectly (and never break -an unrealistic assumption,I'm sure) I could get behind it because there are plenty of people who get into a vehicle with no DUI history, and drive far above the limit without realizing it (or maybe even realizing it) A device like this could certainly save a ton of lives -including, possibly, my childhood friend who was killed by a drunk driver with no DUI history in a matter of seconds.

[LanternWaste]

27. More accurately, "to punish the 1% of drunk drivers that are actually stopped and caught"

As the DUI laws are pretty much irrelevant to the 99% of drunk drivers who are never caught.

[Jerry2144]

15. Reliability would be a a problem

The instrument would have to be tested or certified. The sensor itself ages and needs to be replaced periodically. How reputable will it be in the depths of winter or heat of summer? What if the sensor fails and doesn’t allow a person to start the car for something vital like a southern heading to the hospital? What if the sensor fails to say the driver is drunk and lets the driver drive off to cause a wreck? There would be liability complications that would make this risky from a business case for very little actual gain.


It is a bunch of expense and complexity for relatively little need or problem reduction. It makes sense for somebody convicted for DUI since there is a good chance they can do it again. But for the average person what we do currently is enough. Perhaps bars can (ignoring COVID complications) add a detector for those who are curious.


The answer is good public transportation in cities and taxis or similar means for getting people home in the suburbs and rural areas. Perhaps electric robot cars that can be dispatched from charging locations and the drop people off, then go to another charging location. And pay by the trip

[ColinC]

17. Beautiful response

Thank you and I one million percent agree.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. +1000 What's next, you have to give your car some blood or urine

So a full panel for all drugs can be performed while you wait to start the car?

[Happy Hoosier]

9. For those with a history of DUI... fine.

But keep that out of my car please. I don’t need it, and it’s something else that can break.

[Phoenix61]

12. There is that. nt

[11 Bravo]

23. Many years ago I found my darling wife hemorrhaging on our bathroom floor.

I've posted about it here previously in a thread on a completely different topic.

But the fact is, I would have failed a breathalyzer. Fortunately, that didn't come into play.
I picked her up, carried her to the car, and raced to the hospital where I learned (she was by then unconscious) that she was minutes away from bleeding out as a result of an ectopic pregnancy and a ruptured fallopian tube.

A device forbidding me to operate my car would have made me a young and severely pissed-off widower.

So consider me a cultist who thinks it's a shitty idea.

[brewens]

2. I'd like one of those. My rule is two drinks, but I'd like to see for sure where that has me

at for blood alcohol. I'm 6'1" 220, so I'm supposed to be under drinking a couple beers in an hour. My favorite bar is in walking distance and I usually do walk. It would be handy if I stayed a little longer and could check myself to see if I needed to leave the truck for sure or not. If I was already over the limit, I might go back in and have a couple more as long as I'm walking anyway.

[maxsolomon]

14. Go for it.

It's called an Ignition Interlock, and there are installers near you.

They should NOT be standard equipment on new vehicles.

[brewens]

39. I'd just need a breathalyzer. Nothing could make me drive with over two drinks short of a life or

death situation. In that event, I'd be hoping to see a cop even if I was a little over the limit.

[LiberatedUSA]

4. I wonder if they will invent a roadside test for weed?

[Brother Mythos]

6. Honestly, that 'system' sounds like something easily beatable to me.

I have a can full of air labeled 'Cleaning Duster' sitting on my desk right now. And, I still have enough wind to blow up a big balloon when I'm sober.

[FakeNoose]

11. Of course, idiots will find a way to beat it

They probably already have.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

20. Just have someone who isnt

Drinking blow Into it for you.

[Mr.Bill]

22. Who wants to hang out with someone

like that?

Just kidding, of course.

[Ohio Joe]

8. It's simple...

The commie marxist murica hating socialist libtards who hate freedom and want you to bow down by wearing a mask and put secret 5g nanotubes in 'vaccines' all the while their teachers and doctors and scientists are all in it together to turn our guns into illegal immigrants who vote for democrats... So... Wait... What page? Anyway, they want to take away our freedom to drive drunk... If such a thing exists or not.

I'm telling you... It is hard to understand batshit crazy

[Calculating]

18. Somebody tell these guys that 1984 was not meant to be an instruction manual

Lol

[Hugh_Lebowski]

21. I think in order to drive you should have to have an IV connected to your arm

at all times, with your vehicle drawing your blood every 15 mins, and measuring for alcohol and known forms of psychoactive drugs, and even OTC ones that say 'maybe don't drive' on the package.

And if your car detects any of the above, your motor just shuts down, locks you in, and calls the police to come and arrest you.

Cause that's the world I want to live in.

[Make7]

24. Text of bill placed on Calendar of Senate (July 13th):

https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr3684/BILLS-117hr3684pcs.pdf#page=1616 (3 MB)

Section starts on page 1616.

SEC. 10105. ADVANCED DRUNK DRIVING PREVENTION TECHNOLOGY.

_______________


Text of bill as reported by CNN at the beginning of the month:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/read-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-text/index.html

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21031186/edw21a09.pdf#page=1066 (4 MB)

Section starts on page 1066

SEC. 24220. ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY.

[Chainfire]

25. For the naysayers, I have to ask

How many lives saved would make it worth it, 10, 100, 1000, 5,000 Innocent people saved from drunk drivers? Or is there no number that would make it worth while? (of the 10k people killed by drunks each year) I would also wonder if people who had lost family or close friends to drunk drivers would think that is was a particularly bad idea?

By the time a drunk drive is stopped and charged, he or she has probably driven drunk for years and just been lucky.

We put all kinds of restrictions on drivers, licensing, insurance, seat belts, speed limits etc. As my driver's ed instructor told me so many years ago, driving is a privilege, not a right. You want to drive, prove that you aren't drunk.

You have to be careful with your arguments lest you start sounding like anti-vaxxers.

[Calculating]

28. This argument leads to slippery slopes in a hurry

Think of how many lives we could save if we banned soda and unhealthy food. Or banned tobacco, or alcohol.

Breathalyzer devices are complicated and would require constant maintenance and calibration, all of this would add substantially to the cost of car ownership and hurt reliability. What happens when you need to take your sick kid to the hospital and you can't because the built in breathalyzer in your car is bugging out?

[Chainfire]

30. I gave up on "slippery slope" and "domino principal" theories in the late 60s.

If you need to take your sick kid to the hospital, you need to call an ambulance...You sure as hell don't need to drive your sick kid to the hospital while drunk now do you?

I think that your argument is just lame... I remember that when seatbelts became law the many arguments about being trapped in a burning car. I remember when motorcycle helmets became mandatory, that people screamed about their right to ride with their hair in the wind, and that the helmet restricted their vision. I didn't buy those arguments either.

So, since you responded to my post without answering my query, I suppose that there is no number of lives that could be saved that would justify the inconvenience. . Do I have that part right? All it would be is an inconvenience, it is not some great Constitutional issue.

[Calculating]

32. Who said anything about being drunk driving to the hospital

These things have sensors that go bad and require regular calibration. What happens when it goes bad? Ambulance rides can cost thousands of dollars btw, everyone isn't loaded with cash. How much would these add to the price of a new vehicle? Probably $1500 minimum. It'll also create another reason stopping people from upgrading to newer/greener cars, and they'll just keep fixing their old ice vehicles forever rather than buy a new vehicle with a mandatory breathalyzer

It's more than inconvenience, it's a matter of cost and maintenance along with reliability. As for your "how many lives" question, I really cannot answer that. Such questions are rigged because the logic driven answer will make you look uncaring while the emotional answer disregards practicality.

[marie999]

26. Yes and since there are cars that can read lanes

then how about speed limit signs, stop signs, and traffic lights and not only read them but make the car obey them. And not just speed limit signs but road and weather conditions to make people slow down in the rain, fog, and snow. And check their eyesight and reflexes and only allow them to drive at certain times and at certain speeds. I had to take a test of my reflexes before I could get a military driver's license. Did I leave anything out?

[localroger]

29. The devices that are being proposed don't involve blowing

They are meant to be less obtrusive than the mechanisms foisted on drunk drivers today.

I've seen two suggestions, "impairment detectors" that would recognize that you aren't holding the road reliably and chemical sensors that would be sensitive to trace amounts of chemical on your finger when you press the start button. Neither is practical yet.

The impairment detectors would catch other reasons for impairment such as dowsiness or other drugs, and they would be based on lane holding and self-driving technology only turned around to judge you on your own driving. Unfortunately like autopilot this sounds like a feature that will work wonderfully 99% of the time and fail spectacularly the other 1%. One of my coworkers already has a new car that will literally jerk the wheel out of his hand if it thinks he's drifting out of his lane. Warning me, okay, but this ... Do Not Want.

And I have to wonder if the chemical sensor can reliablly tell the difference between hand sanitizer, mouthwash, and Jack Daniel's. How will it perform as a sensor after spending five hot summers in the greenhouse that is your car's cabin in New Orleans?

Combined with already existing features, like the one that turns your engine off when idling at a stoplight, I doubt I'll ever buy a new car now. (I was going to buy one last time but gas prices were high and so were the prices of new compact fuel-efficient cars.) The engine disable "feature" can be disabled so far, but the setting doesn't stick and the coworker who has this car has to disable it every time he starts the car. And in New Orleans in the summer, it only takes a few seconds for the cabin to start heating up when the air conditioner starts blowing uncooled air because the engine and compressor are not turning.

I also dont like the new trend of having wireless "keys" that your car detects to enable the start button, no donkey key sockets except in the driver's side door (lots of fun cleaning out your hatchback full of work tools when the battery dies), and numerous other ill thought-out "features." I guess I may be in the market for a 1995 Ford Ranger eventually.

[MichMan]

31. Imagine someone running lots of errands or delivering door dash

Pack the kids in the car for school. Blow

Coffee Shop. Blow

Go to the bank. Blow

Stop at the Post Office. Blow

Pharmacy. Blow

Grocery store. Blow

All that before noon

No thanks!

[madinmaryland]

33. 1066. William the Conqueror? Inquiring minds are thinking there my be a conspiracy here!

[Orrex]

35. Believe it or not, that was my first thought as well.

Great minds?

Well, some kind of minds at least!

[madinmaryland]

37. Yeah. Some kind of minds. I'll ask Dr. Strange!

[Orrex]

38. That fink has nothing to say on this matter.

Or on any matter, that fink.

[Bristlecone]

34. Ill conceived idea. Blow into it and then start drinking. Detox monitors

Typically require a driver/user to blow into the box during the drive also. And potentially after one parks. The reason of course is if someone has been charged with driving under the influence, and often repeatedly, they drink while they drive.

Plus these are expensive and temperamental devices that need calibration every month or quarter. Also, one usually has to change out the blow tip (which is plastic and disposable - so more unnecessary plastic and litter)

If these just trigger the ignition on, people will just leave the car running and go into the bar or liquor store. My car will stay running while locked.

Most importantly I don’t drink; I neither want or need that in my car.

[David__77]

36. If it has an override and it's subsidized by government it sounds ok to me.

The override is for emergency purposes.