everyday, when you read the newspapers or watch television, you get to know of road accidents which result to physical injuries, destruction of properties, or worst, loss of lives. different factors contribute to road accidents, but most prominent of all is due to drunk driving and dozing off behind the wheel. just recently, a former senator and his wife plus two other companions in our country (PH) figured in one such road accident, which tragically resulted to the death of the wife, and serious injuries to two others (the senator and the driver) and minor scratches and bruises to another passenger when the vehicle they were in was swept headon by another rushing vehicle in an intersection. then another road accident also happened when a vehicle rushed onwards to a line of people in a funeral procession. several were killed, and others ended up in the hospital.

tragic scenes i must say, and to see precious life even just on TV/newspaper get extinguished or maimed because of something which could be prevented (especially of a driver who should not be driving drunk, or otherwise dozing off while driving), led me to think of reasons why there are no such STANDARD PREVENTION methods in cars/vehicles so such road mishaps should not end up in the news in the first place.

let's say for drunk driving, i'm thinking a breathalyzer could be incorporated into vehicles to detect a driver's capacity to drive. this thing could analyze alcohol content in the driver before the vehicle can even be started. if alcohol level of driver is above legal limit, the car would refuse to run, and no amount of hardwiring or rigging of the ignition would make it run also. and to avoid driver switching, a fingerprint analysis via the steering wheel can also be useful here. if the car recognizes a driver switch after the initial phase of breathalyzer test, then the car will slow down and stop, and re-testing of new driver starts.

for dozing off behind the wheel, there could be a system which can be invented to detect this, and in the event when driver is detected to start to doze off into sleep, an electrical jolt can be used to stimulate the driver to resume wakefulness when driving.

with such innovations as part of a standard for all vehicles, there could be less road accidents which end tragically in the unnecessary loss of lives. what do you guys think? any other ideas?

As much as I think that there are too many accidents on the road today I do not like your idea about the breath test. It would only work if there was a law instated that all automobiles must have this just like the one about the seatbelts. I don't like the government telling me what needs to be installed in MY PROPERTY. Once i buy the car it is my property, and I don't like my own property deciding whether I can use it or not. As for the fingerprint recognition I do like that idea because it could be a feature in a car to prevent theft.

I have this really interesting concept, been thinking about it for several years.

It's basically a combination of "Learn to freaking drive." and "Drink and drive, and we won't let you drive again."

Alex, I'm not sure what you mean. The only things that are required for cars are things that protect the driver and other drivers' safety. Sure, you should be able to choose what's installed in your car, but not if it risks the injury of others.

road safety should be the primary concern of drivers since they are the one in control when their vehicles are on the road. pedestrians and bystanders and other unlucky parties in collisions barely have any control over a speeding car hurtling towards them. and i do hope that when innovations of the kind i posted here are available, the government will take the effort in making it THE LAW for all vehicle owners. it may end up also that the life you could be saving could be yours. i know that in my examples, the victims are what i highlighted, but it also takes it's share of toll on the driver who caused the accidents in the first place. unless of course, alex, if you think the driver's life is less precious than those of others. as above the rest points out, your right ends where the rights of others begin. and i believe the right to life is held over and above the right to property. but i do understand your point alex, that it should be enshrined in a law first before it can be implemented.

ATR, expound a little on your concepts.

There are many ideas like this, even better. The bottom line comes to this: who will use money to make this reality? Nothing ever gets done unless somebody is making money (I know, exceptions, but this is virtually always true on a large scale).


Amen to that.

This post has been edited by dre: Nov 15 2007, 12:19 AM

I was thinking of this while I was in the car on the way home from playing Basketball:

Why not make the permit test and driving test more strict? Stricter scoring would certainly improve the caliber of drivers out there on the road, would it not?

actually honda and many other car companies are already making cars that incorporate this 'breath test' technology.
But i'm sure they could do better. There should be other things like ultraviolet headlights, infrared headlights, GPS, and cars that can float...
But the main way of preventing these 'deaths' are to have responsible drivers on the road and those who aren't so responsible 'Locked Up'.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) appears to be on the heels of this concept of "breath-test interlock devices". i found a news article of this recent development, which they are widely campaigning for.



a bold step so far for making it in the news, and hopefully it reaches a snowball effect and picked up by other like-minded individuals and organizations so that the initiative can garner enough support to make it a reality. and here's wishing the initiative will be absorbed and observed by other countries as well, not just in the U.S.A., since this drunk driving problem is not confined to them only.