Over the past months, The DADSS Research Program and our partners at Senseair™ have been collecting data from in-vehicle tests (featuring Generation 3.1 Breath-based Sensors) through the program’s Pilot Field Operational Trial and Driven to Protect Partnership with Virginia DMV and James River Transportation. We have used the data from these on-road tests to significantly improve the alcohol measurement for the next generation sensor, GEN 3.2.

We have improved the airflow through the system and have also improved the alcohol detector, giving us greater sensitivity to naturally exhaled breaths.

We have enhanced our measurement algorithms so they can analyze several consecutive signals, providing us more data for more reliable measurement.

We have identified automotive mass production-friendly options for key components of the technology—such as the detectors, emitters, and mirrors—that will help maintain quality while enhancing manufacturability.

We have upgraded the sensor calibration procedures to be used at the point of manufacture to be consistent with those used at our verification and validation lab to ensure calibration accuracy and reproducibility.

We also have put the GEN 3 sensors through rigorous environmental testing that simulates a sensor lifetime of fifteen years.

As a result of all these advances, the GEN 3.2 breath sensors now are sufficiently advanced for on-the-road testing.

In September 2018, the DADSS Program joined the Virginia DMV to publicly announce Driven to Protect and its partnership with James River Transportation (JRT) to conduct in-vehicle tests on Virginia roads with JRT drivers and fleet vehicles. These vehicles—equipped with GEN 3.1 sensors—have logged over 3,800 hours, obtained over 18,000 samples and driven 40,000 miles to date, and have provided invaluable information to help improve our algorithms.

We are also conducting on-road testing in Massachusetts. Our engineers have logged 5,000 hours, obtained over 33,000 samples and driven 24,000 miles to date with the GEN 3.1 sensors to make improvements to vehicle integration and to improve the ruggedness of our data acquisition systems. We are now in the process of equipping 10 additional vehicles with the GEN 3.2 sensors and look forward to seeing how they perform in the New England winter.

We have recently received additional GEN 3.2 sensors for internal testing. In our labs, we assess the performance of each sensor before integrating it into a vehicle and each sensor will be tested again after it has been on the road—tracking the changes to determine potential improvements to the technology. We have been able to dramatically increase the speed with which we can conduct this battery of tests: in 2018, we have been able to test eight at a time and in the first quarter of 2019, we expect to be able to test 24 at a time.

We have also moved the creation and mixing of the gas we use to analyze our sensors in house—allowing us to exceed our performance specifications by a factor of five and eliminate additional variables in our testing. We are also working on a portable “breath sample” system.

We continue to test and evaluate the sensors using human subjects in a controlled laboratory setting at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate. The DADSS Program is currently verifying GEN 3.1 sensors and will begin incorporating GEN 3.2 into the next round of testing. Once GEN 3.2 is performing as well as or better than GEN 3.1, GEN 3.1 will be eliminated from testing.

To demonstrate to partners and the public at large just how passive the GEN 3.2 sensor has become, the DADSS Program developed and patented a voice activation system. By speaking a sentence of a specific length (“I am driven to protect, verify me”), the driver produces enough of a breath sample for the sensor to provide an accurate breath alcohol reading. You can view Governor Northam testing this system at the Driven to Protect event 

DADSS Research Program Technical Update

Rob Strassburger, President and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), presented on behalf of the DADSS Program at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Impaired Driving Summit on October 18, 2018 in Ruckersville, VA.

The DADSS Program gave an overview of the initiative and discussed alcohol-impaired fatality trends, potential safety benefits of the DADSS technology, progress to date, technology testing, and pilot deployments.

To learn more or download the presentation, click 

DADSS and Driven to Protect at the IIHS Impaired Driving Summit

When it comes to a pervasive public safety threat like drunken driving, it is critical to find additional actions that will have the greatest effect. New challenges such as drug-impaired driving and driver distraction compound the situation, but here’s the reality: Drunken driving remains our greatest impaired-driving threat.

Newly released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that in Virginia alone there were 246 deaths in 2017 — this means alcohol-impaired driving was responsible for nearly 30 percent of Virginia’s total traffic fatalities last year. In addition, there were more than 18,000 injuries that we attribute to alcohol-impaired crashes in 2017.

These staggering statistics lead us to find an effective solution to end drunken driving. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles thinks part of the solution lies in technology. That’s why we’re the first state to partner with the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Program, a public-private partnership between the leading automakers and NHTSA where scientists and engineers are working to develop and road-test a technology-based solution to the seemingly intractable problem of drunken driving.

, is the first of its kind, and is another example of the technological innovation for which Virginia is known.

 is developing breath-based alcohol sensors with the ability to passively, unobtrusively, and precisely detect the blood alcohol level of a driver. If the driver has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above the legal limit of 0.08 percent, the vehicle will start but not move.

The program has successfully created prototypes that can passively detect alcohol, built the equipment to adequately test them, decreased the size of the technology to the dimensions of two smartphones stacked on each other, and significantly increased the speed of measurement. Once the technology has met rigorous performance standards, it will be integrated into vehicles by the automobile manufacturers and offered to vehicle consumers as an optional safety feature, similar to other driver assist systems such as automatic braking or lane departure warning.

The Driven to Protect Initiative is putting the DADSS technology on the roads, thanks to a partnership with 

, a Virginia-based, family owned transportation company.

James River Transportation has deep roots and a strong history here in Virginia, and has been providing Virginians with safe transportation for nearly a century. It also has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to thinking of new ways to keep its passengers safe. When looking for a partner for this initiative, James River Transportation was the obvious choice.

Starting in September, James River Transportation launched the first commercial fleet with the DADSS technology installed. This fleet — comprising four Ford Flex vehicles based at the Richmond and Norfolk airports — is collecting data and feedback to not only test the devices in regular driving conditions, but to understand how real drivers interact with the sensors. The data and insights will be used by the DADSS Program to further the development of the technology.

When faced with such persistent challenges as drunken driving, we must continue to pursue new ideas and solutions. While Virginia remains committed to proven interventions — from education, to ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, to high-visibility enforcement — which are saving lives daily on our roads, we are also proud to be leading the nation with Driven to Protect. With the passion and innovation found in our communities, we will continue to harness the power and promise of this technology to realize our ultimate goal: the elimination of drunken driving. And we will keep working toward the day when we can offer drivers, both in Virginia and nationwide, this powerful new safety option.

Richard D. Holcomb is commissioner of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and may be contacted at 

Richard D. Holcomb column: Saving lives with innovation: Exploring a high-tech solution to the problem of drunk driving

On Thursday, October 4, 2018, the Baker–Polito Administration announced that KEA Technologies, Inc (KEA) – the company that oversees the research and development of alcohol detection technology on behalf of the DADSS Research Program – has been awarded a Workforce Training Fund Program grant.

This grant will be used to prepare its employees and documentation for certification to both ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO 17025 (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories). This grant will cover employee training over a two-year period.

The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) issued the following statement in response to the announcement:

“The DADSS Program relies on highly–skilled technology developers, engineers and scientists to ensure our alcohol detection system prototypes are meeting extremely high standards for accuracy and precision,” said Robert Strassburger, President and CEO of ACTS. “It is very gratifying that Massachusetts has chosen KEA for this award, which emphasizes the importance of investing in a highly–skilled workforce. Through its support of KEA, this grant will benefit the DADSS Program’s continued progress in developing and implementing methods to measure ethyl alcohol in the parts per billion range needed to verify and validate DADSS technologies.”

This project is funded by a Workforce Training Fund grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The grant program is administered by Commonwealth Corporation.

https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-nearly-64-million-in-workforce-training-fund-program

Statement on Workforce Training Fund Program Grant

Today, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) issued the following statement on 

new data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation

 through the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) showing a 1.1 percent decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities from 2016 to 2017:

“We are pleased that alcohol-related driving fatalities have fallen from last year. However, the families and loved ones of the 10,874 individuals who lost their lives to drunk driving in 2017 are reminded daily of their loss,” said Robert Strassburger, President & CEO. “This is why ACTS remains focused, through the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Program, on developing new and innovative solutions that will save lives by ensuring that drivers over the legal limit cannot drive. We expect all drivers will one day choose to have that degree of certainty when they get behind the wheel.”

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Research Program is a public-private partnership between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), which represents the world’s leading automakers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Public-private partnerships like DADSS have led to innovations that enhance our everyday lives, such as the internet, GPS and the microchip. The Program is researching a first-of-its-kind technology called the alcohol detection system that will detect when a driver is impaired with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08%, and prevent a vehicle from moving.

For more information about the DADSS program, visit 

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Richard D. Holcomb column: Saving lives with innovation: Exploring a high-tech solution to the problem of drunk driving

Statement on Workforce Training Fund Program Grant

Statement from the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, Inc on 2017 Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash Data