DETROIT, Michigan – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday that it has recommended making blood alcohol level monitoring systems mandatory for all new vehicles in the country that can prevent a drunk person from driving.
The federal agency’s recommendation, if adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seeks to reduce the number of deaths in alcohol-related accidents, one of the leading causes of motor vehicle fatalities in the country.
A new effort to make US roads safer was included in reports of a horrific accident last year in which a drunk driver collided head-on with another vehicle near Fresno, California, killing two adult drivers and seven Minors had died.
NHTSA said this week that road deaths in the United States are at a serious level. Nearly 43,000 people died last year, the most in 16 years, as Americans returned to the streets following lockdowns over the coronavirus pandemic.
Preliminary counts suggest the death toll rose again in the first half of this year, although it declined between April and June, which officials expect to be a trend.
The NTSB, which has no regulatory authority and can only ask other agencies to implement measures, explained that its recommendation seeks to pressure NHTSA to act on the matter. It may come into force in three more years.
“We need the NHTSA to act. We are seeing the numbers,” warned NTSB director Jennifer Homendy. “We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to save lives.” “
The recommendation also calls for systems to be installed to monitor driver behavior to ensure they are alert. He said many cars already have cameras mounted on the motorist, which has the potential to limit cases of drunk driving.
The SR60 highway remains closed. Arnulfo Peralta has a description.
