The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has unveiled new state-of-the-art road safety technology that it hopes will one day make it impossible for people to drink and drive.
Announcing the Australian-first, Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Ben Carroll said the Commission was conducting research on a prototype vehicle fitted with technology that automatically analysed a driver’s breath for alcohol.
“Despite Victoria’s early successes in addressing the issue, drink driving remains a major factor in road trauma, contributing to around 19 per cent of fatalities on the State’s roads in the past five years,” Mr Carroll said
“The sophisticated Passive Alcohol Sensor (PAS) technology detects alcohol in a driver’s breath when they first enter the vehicle, which is significantly different from existing ignition interlocks and breathalysers,” he said.
“The system is designed to take accurate readings in less than a second, is more precise and reliable than other alcohol detection technology, is contactless and can determine whether or not a breath sample is from the driver.”
Mr Carroll said studies had shown that most Victorians knew drink driving was dangerous and would not do it intentionally.
The Minister said the TAC partnered with the US research program Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) to bring the technology to Victoria to develop plans for a fleet trial.
“The TAC and DADSS have developed the PAS demonstration vehicle to present the technology to the Victorian public, explore its life-saving potential and the possibility of a fleet trial,” he said.
Mr Carroll said currently, an extensive process was needed to retrofit the technology to a vehicle, but in the future the PAS system would be installed at the time of production or as an after-market accessory option.
