The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety vehicle measures carbon dioxide and ethanol (alcohol) coming from the vicinity of the driver's seat via a steering wheel-mounted sensor to determine whether the driver has had too much alcohol to drive.
It's the result of efforts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to address alcohol-impaired driving since the '70s, and the work of private companies developing new technologies since 2008. Advancements in vehicle technology prompted the U.S. Congress to mandate new rules through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requiring new passenger vehicles to have "advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology" by 2024.
The DADSS vehicle technology is being developed through a public-private partnership and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety , a group comprised of every major vehicle manufacturer like Ford, BMW, General Motors, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Volvo and more.
Drunk driving is among the leading causes of death on the road, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. In Connecticut, Hartford, Waterbury and New Haven are among the top 75 cities with the highest rate of fatal drunk driving incidents, a Philadelphia law firm's study recently found.
"It's a very fascinating technology that could prove to be a game-changer in the fight against drunk driving," Josh Morgan, a Connecticut Department of Transportation spokesperson, said.
DADSS vehicles have been on the road for years. A collaboration with the state of Virginia introduced the DADSS technology to the road in 2021 with breath sensors installed in a commercial fleet of vehicles. Another program followed in Maryland and Connecticut just reupped its involvement in the program, called Driven to Protect, for a second year.
In Connecticut, Transportation Commissioner Garrett Ecualitto drives a DADSS pilot vehicle and another tours the state as a demonstration vehicle. It was on display Sept. 18 as part of the Big E's Connecticut Day.
An older generation of DADSS technology used a handheld sensor one would pick up and breathe toward. The technology in the Connecticut vehicles is the next generation, a semi-passive system mounted to the steering wheel but requiring a directed breath. Kristin Kingsley , director of program development at ACTS, said that's much different than a punitive device like the Interlock system, which is often installed in cars at the order of a judge and requires a forced breath into a tube.
This technology would not allow drivers to start their car and drive if they are over the legal limit. Customers purchasing a vehicle could have the limit set for zero tolerance — any alcohol detected prevents the vehicle from being operated — or the legal limit. Rental car companies, logistics fleets and parents of young drivers have expressed interest in those options, according to Kingsley.
Kingsley said a passenger vehicle that gives a red reading at the start wouldn't be able to go into drive. From there, it would be up to manufacturers to determine how the vehicle would handle a reading that becomes red mid-drive. Kingsley said there are several options, especially as vehicle autonomy becomes more prevalent. She said an autonomous vehicle could go into a "limp home" mode and take control from the driver or it could pull the car over in a safe location and keep it from driving while the reading remains over the legal limit.
The next step for the DADSS program will introduce fully passive detection technology that would use breath detection and touch sensors to check for impairment at the start of the vehicle and continuously in operation to determine consumption while driving or alcohol continuing to metabolize.
The DADSS technology measures BAC through infrared spectroscopy and provides continuous measurement. Kingsley said individual metabolism of alcohol varies based on things like diet and exercise. Someone can be physically impaired without reaching the legal limit. Other factors include the timing and quantity of drinks, which can also lead to varied levels of impairment that might not be detected at first, highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring.
"That's the beauty of the DADSS technology," Jake McCook , spokesperson for DADSS said. "It will universally measure alcohol concentrations equally for every person, no matter their age, gender or weight. It is designed to take the guesswork out of BAC measurement and give drivers the certainty they will never put themselves or others in danger by driving over the legal limit."
Maureen Campbell is a project manager with KEA Technologies, a Massachusetts-based science and engineering firm working on DADSS technology. She said people often ask if they can blow a fan and trick the sensor.
"The answer is no," she said. "It's looking specifically for an amount of carbon dioxide and an amount of ethanol. When it senses an increase in carbon dioxide, it looks to see if the background level of ethanol in the air increases at the same time."
She gives the same answer to another common question: Can a drunk passenger set off the sensor for a driver?
"The answer is no," she again said. "We tested that. We used to put the sensors all around the vehicle. We would have the drunk person sit in the passenger seat and see how much drift there would be to the driver's seat, where a sober research assistant would be sitting."
The federal government extended the November 2024 deadline, giving flexibility of up to three years before the fully passive technology is ready.
According to the project managers developing the technology, it could be ready by 2027. After that, manufacturers would have two years to implement the technology into their new passenger vehicles.
The current semi-passive DADSS system isn't for sale. That's because it's available for open licensing. If a manufacturer or fleet operator desires, they can get a reference design directly from DADSS.
"We're a nonprofit organization and we don't want to sell this as a product," Kingsley said. "We think it will deploy much broader and quicker if we make it available to anyone and everyone who's interested in integrating and manufacturing."
Kingsley said surveys have been going on for years with hundreds of thousands of data points collected and concerns addressed, especially when it comes to the technology failing or giving false positives. A big concern has been privacy, but Kingsley said that, too, has been covered.
"Because we are not a punitive device, we're designing this technology so that it makes decisions in the moment, but it doesn't need to store or transmit data in order to work," she said.
The DADSS team has worked with the Future of Privacy Forum to incorporate its recommendations into the vehicle's design in hopes of broader public acceptance, Kingsley said.
She also said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has been a champion of the program and the technology's development. He was a co-sponsor of the Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Act, which was rolled into the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
"Federal efforts that require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue new standards to equip cars with lifesaving prevention technology, much of which is already available and should be standard with new cars. I urge NHTSA to finalize these rules and meet its November deadline — lives depend on it."
"Drunk and impaired driving deaths are senseless and completely preventable," Blumenthal told CT Insider. "I am proud to have supported federal efforts that require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue new standards to equip cars with lifesaving prevention technology, much of which is already available and should be standard with new cars."
He also encouraged the NHTSA and ACTS to get the passenger vehicle technology out as soon as possible.
"Lives depend on it," the senator said.
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