On December 8, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) convened traffic safety partners to announce the next phase of the Driven to Protect Initiative in Virginia: an exciting new trial deployment with international transportation and logistics provider Schneider.
Schneider, an industry leader and innovator in truck safety technology, will be the first trucking company to work with the DADSS Program — marking a new milestone toward the commercialization of the DADSS technology and an important next step in testing. As part of this new trial deployment, Schneider will outfit eight of their cabs with the latest breath sensors in 2022, logging more than 100,000 sensor miles for each vehicle outfitted, for a collective total of almost one million miles. This deployment will help refine the technology by increasing the stress that the system is put under on the road, exponentially increasing the number of miles driven, and exposing the system to new drivers and a wider range of environmental conditions – all key to the DADSS Program’s quest to commercialize fully passive vehicle-integrated breath technology.
The effort builds upon Driven to Protect’s ongoing partnership with Virginia-based James River Transportation, which was the first time the breath sensors were tested as part of in-vehicle, on-road test trials involving light passenger vehicles.
The event featured remarks from Richard D. Holcomb, commissioner of the Virginia DMV; Tom DiSalvi, vice president of safety, driver training, and compliance at Schneider; and Robert Strassburger, president and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS).
“Virginians should be proud of our state’s leadership in public safety and technology innovation,” said Commissioner Holcomb. “The progress we have made since 2018 has advanced this game-changing anti-drunk driving technology, and I am excited to see how this new deployment will bring the technology one step closer to saving countless lives on our roadways.”
After the program, speakers and guests were able to get a close-up look at the DADSS technology in the Schneider truck, as well as in other demonstration vehicles. Those in attendance were also given a chance to learn more about the technology development process and see videos and resources available for Virginia educators and the public at the Driven to Protect Discovery Hub. Attendees were excited to see the progress the technology has made so far thanks to the deployments taking place in Virginia and were hopeful that a future without drunk driving is closer than ever before.
View the event recording here.
Check out out photos from the event here:
