The DADSS Program was at the 2017 Federated Auto Parts 400 and at the 2017 Virginia529 College Savings 250 NASCAR Races on September 8 and 9, where they debuted the new partnership with Virginia, “Driven to Protect.”

Our exhibit featured an interactive display about the technology and the science behind it and additional information about what will be happening in Virginia as part of “Driven to Protect.”

This exhibit gave Virginians an early look at the alcohol detection technology being developed by the DADSS Program, as well as the opportunity to experience the current prototypes for themselves and provide their initial feedback.

You can learn more about Driven To Protect 

Driven to Protect at NASCAR

Technological innovations have brought us smarter and safer cars. Despite these advancements, one of the greatest threats on our roadways remains—drunk driving.

Is there a role for technology to tackle this persistent public safety challenge?

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Research Program is working to find that answer.

What started as a strategic safety concept has— through meticulous research and development—become a set of working prototypes that hold the potential to significantly reduce the injuries and deaths caused by drunk driving.

 when a driver is intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08 and prevent the car from moving. Two different approaches passed the proof-of-concept review and are being tested, modified and reduced to a size that can fit in a car—one touch-based and one breath-based. The touch-based sensor measures and analyzes the blood alcohol concentration under the skin’s surface by shining an infrared light through the fingertip of the driver. By measuring the reflected light, the system can accurately determine the concentration of alcohol. The breath-based system measures the alcohol in a driver’s naturally exhaled breath. A small sensor compares the amount of carbon dioxide molecules with alcohol molecules in a driver’s breath using infrared light, to accurately calculate the breath alcohol concentration.

While there remains a long road ahead to make this technology concept consumer-ready, it has made impressive progress and has led to new patents and advancements in laser technology and alcohol detection, as well as a broader body of research on alcohol absorption and elimination.

This technology is being developed through a public-private partnership between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, which represents the world’s leading automakers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The common goal between these two organizations is to advance alcohol detection technology to a point where it can be integrated into new vehicles and voluntarily offered to customers as a safety option, similar to automatic braking, lane departure warning and other advanced driver-assist vehicle technologies. Through the wide acceptance and installation of this technology, we can work to combat the roughly 10,000 deaths that are due to drunk driving each year.

To deliver a road-ready technology that’s also consumer-ready, this technology must be fast, reliable and accurate; small enough to fit seamlessly into existing vehicle controls; and sensitive enough not to hassle a sober driver while correctly distinguishing between driver and passenger. To get there, we need a 

 of partners, funders, technology developers, researchers and engineers dedicated to perfecting this first-of-its-kind system. When we started this work, our first charge was to build the tools that we could use to verify and validate the devices. They simply did not exist before with the required high accuracy and precision. Today, our labs contain machines that accurately simulate breath and human tissue and allow us to test systems repeatedly with high precision while introducing alcohol in various concentrations.

Of course, the real test comes when humans are factored into the equation. Researchers and scientists at McLean Hospital Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory—an affiliate of Harvard Medical School—are closely supervising human subject testing of the DADSS prototypes, where the precision of the alcohol detection system meets the variability of the human body. These tests sample a diverse array of subjects and include laboratory simulations of social situations such as “last call” and “social snacking,” which may affect blood alcohol content. When the prototypes can remain accurate despite the real-world variety in alcohol consumption, body type, age, ethnicity and other influencing factors on BAC, we will be ready to take this technology on the road.

It is these tightly measured and closely observed tests that will be crucial to the ultimate rollout of the DADSS technology. A serious safety issue needs a serious solution—that’s why the engineers and scientists involved are requiring multiple rounds of testing to ensure accuracy and precision in the final technology—without it, we would not have confidence in the readings and in the ability of the tech to help keep drivers safe.

We also want interest, understanding and buy-in from consumers so that automakers may integrate this technology seamlessly into all vehicles that hit the road. DADSS is a driver assistance system that will help drivers make smarter decisions when it comes to getting behind the wheel of their vehicle after drinking, and that gives parents peace of mind when they hand the keys to their teenage driver. In fact, the final alcohol detection system will come with the capability to be programmed with a zero-tolerance policy for underage drivers, ensuring the technology responds to the needs of the consumer. The promise of the DADSS program has already captured the interest of consumers and leading 

, who are an integral part of the consumer acceptance of the DADSS technology as we gear up for rollout.

The next phase of the DADSS Program will be collecting real-time results from field operational tests. The tests will take place in different temperatures, humidity, altitude and other environmental conditions that a driver would face in real time. These trials—scheduled for 2018—will help us collect the data needed to perfect this technology, and take us one step closer to the day when consumers can walk into their dealerships and request a vehicle with an alcohol detection system. We are excited about our progress, but even more excited about the program’s potential to use technology to address a persistent public health threat and save lives.

https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/08/promising-vehicle-tech-will-detect-drunk-drivers-they-hit-road

Promising Vehicle Tech Will Detect Drunk Drivers Before They Hit the Road

In early June, the DADSS Research Program participated in the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) in Detroit, MI.

This bi-annual conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is designed to share innovative advances in motor vehicle safety and encourage international cooperation to the global community.

The DADSS program was well-represented at ESV: more than five technical papers were submitted and four presentations were made by the program leaders, technology developers and partners. This included a status update by DADSS Program & Technical Manager Bud Zaouk; presentation by Jonas Ljungblad of Hok Instrument AB on the breath-based system; and finally, new findings on the preliminary human testing results being conducted by Dr. Scott Lukas, of the Harvard Medical School-affiliated McLean Hospital.

The X2 Research vehicle – equipped with early prototypes – was also on display in the Exhibit Hall, where representatives from KEA Technologies, Inc. helped showcase the technology and discuss program’s progress to date.

For more information about the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) conference, visit 

DADSS Research Program at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Technical Conference in June

On May 17-18, the DADSS Research Team was pleased to attend the Virginia Highway Safety Summit Conference in Richmond, Virginia.

The two-day event, presented by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), focused on best practices, relevant issues and future strategies for success in working to achieve the Toward Zero Deaths goal. Representatives from the DADSS program had the opportunity to present a technical update and used the X2 vehicle to provide an educational overview to the members of the traffic safety community in attendance, which included hundreds of state representatives.

We were encouraged by the enthusiasm for the DADSS technology, as well as the new developments in safety programs and technologies presented by other members of the traffic safety community.

To learn more about GHSA and the Virginia Highway Safety Summit Conference, please visit their website at 

DADSS Research Team Presents at Virginia Highway Safety Summit Conference in May

Our cars are getting smarter, and each year more safety options are available to new car buyers — from automatic emergency braking to rearview cameras and lane departure warnings.

With this safety revolution in mind, what if we could use technology to lessen the deadly impact of one of our nation’s most pervasive transportation and public health issues? What if we could invent a world without drunk driving?

That’s exactly what researchers at the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Program are hoping to do. Through a public-private partnership between the federal government and the world’s leading automakers, engineers are researching a first-of-its-kind technology called the Alcohol Detection System that will detect when a driver is intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08 and prevent that car from moving.

To help bring the best technology to market, the DADSS research program has been developing and testing two technologies: a touch-based system that uses lasers to detect alcohol content under the skin’s surface and a breath-based system that passively measures the alcohol level in driver’s naturally exhaled breath using infrared light.

A technology that passively detects a driver’s BAC level and is still small enough to be integrated into a vehicle has never been created before, much less one that operates at the level of precision and accuracy that the program demands. Yet the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that if the DADSS technology is successful, more than 7,000 people could be saved each year, a significant decrease from where we are today.

As the technologies are becoming smaller, more compact and more easily mass-produced, researchers are subjecting them to a range of tests using a set of custom-designed test devices as well as human subject testing. In 2018, DADSS-equipped test cars will hit the road, gathering real-world data in different environmental conditions and with a range of different drivers.

One day, DADSS researchers aim to give all drivers the certainty they will not put themselves or others in danger by driving over the legal limit, as well as helping parents protect their kids as they begin driving themselves.

With 10,000 drunk driving deaths per year, it’s a day that can’t come soon enough.

ROBERT STRASSBURGER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AUTOMOTIVE COALITION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY, editorial@mediaplanet.com

http://www.modernwellnessguide.com/lifestyle/can-technology-stop-drunk-driving

Technological innovations are be leading the way toward a new generation of cars that could cut the number of drunk driving deaths each year by more than half.

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Promising Vehicle Tech Will Detect Drunk Drivers Before They Hit the Road

DADSS Research Program at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Technical Conference in June

DADSS Research Team Presents at Virginia Highway Safety Summit Conference in May

Can Technology Stop Drunk Driving?