A bipartisan vote in Congress to include anti-drunk driving technology is now included in the 2,706 page Infrastructure bill.
The legislation requires carmakers to include the technology in their models to combat drunk driving by as early as 2026, in a report from Autoblog (AP).
According to the Infrastructure facts sheet on the White House website, all vehicles manufactured in the US will require anti-drunk driving technology to detect when a drunk person is behind the wheel of a car. In the bill, The National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) is advised to require car companies to report drunk-driving incidents involving semi- and fully autonomous driving systems within one day of learning of an accident.
The Washington Post reports, “car companies must report an accident anytime there’s a death, an injury that requires hospital treatment, a vehicle that’s towed away, an airbag deployment or when a pedestrian and or cyclist is involved.”
In a report obtained by AutoBlog (AP), The NHTSA reported an estimated 20,160 people died in traffic collisions during the first half of this year, which is the highest first-half total since 2006.
Though it is illegal to drive drunk in the US, each year, around 10,000 people are killed due to alcohol-related crashes in the U.S., making up nearly 30% of all traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA.
To combat drunk driving, the Department of Transportation is expected to spend a total of $17 billion for road safety programs, which is the highest increase in funding in decades. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the funding increase could mean more protected bike paths and greener spaces built into busy roadways.
