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.

Can Technology Stop Drunk Driving?

new partnership with the Virginia Highway Safety Office

, the DADSS Research Program provided a technical update to law enforcement from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia at the Mid-Atlantic DUI Conference on April 3-5.

With 260 law enforcement professionals and others in attendance, we presented an overview of the DADSS program and its goals, the work currently underway to develop this new technology, and the partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The X2 research vehicle and engineers from KEA Technologies, Inc. were on hand to demonstrate to law enforcement – and passersby on the Virginia Beach boardwalk – the early prototypes of the DADSS technology, and to explain how the technology will work in the future.

Law enforcement is the front line of defense against drunk driving, and will always be an essential part of reducing deaths on our roadways. We look forward to working closely with them as the technology advances and is introduced to the public– both in Virginia and nationally.

DADSS Research Team Presents To Regional Law Enforcement in April

This March, the DADSS Research Program participated in the Lifesavers Conference in Charlotte, NC alongside various industry, policy and organizational leaders in traffic safety.

Over the course of the three-day event, the team provided a technical update and presented on the program’s efforts to build consumer awareness, acceptance and demand. The X2 Research vehicle – equipped with early prototypes – was in the Exhibit Hall, and engineers were on hand to explain the progress that has been made on the technology.

Our partners throughout the traffic safety community have played an important role in securing support and funding for the DADSS Research Program and will be critical to the program’s success in the future. We welcomed the opportunity to give them an update of what has been happening in the lab and discuss ways to help the technology realize its life-saving potential.

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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?

DADSS Research Team Presents To Regional Law Enforcement in April

DADSS Joins Traffic Safety Partners at the 2017 Lifesavers Conference