Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has joined Congress officials to announce a new act with “the potential to eliminate drunk driving in America.”
MADD joined Senator Tom Udall, Senator Rick Scott and Congresswoman Debbie to introduce the Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Act of 2019 (RIDE Act), which calls for the Department of Transportation to issue a rulemaking to equip all new cars with advanced alcohol detection technology that would passively detect whether the driver is drunk.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if all vehicles were equipped with advanced alcohol detection technology, an estimated 7,000 lives could be saved every year.
“This technology is a game changer in the fight to stop the horrible tragedies caused by drunk driving — the leading killer on America’s roads,” said MADD National President Helen Witty.
“Seven months ago at a House hearing I challenged the auto industry to move aggressively to put advanced drunk driving prevention technology in their vehicles. Now I’m back to reissue the challenge with some of my friends in Congress.”
Advanced alcohol detection has been a key component of MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving since the campaign’s launch in 2006. That year, MADD convened a technology symposium in New Mexico to discuss the idea of car companies building advanced alcohol detection systems that would passively detect whether the driver is drunk.
Last month, Congresswoman Dingell introduced the Honoring Abbas Family Legacy to Terminate (HALT) Drunk Driving Act, which is similar to the RIDE Act. Dingell’s legislation was inspired by the horrific crash in January that killed five members of the Abbas family from Michigan — Issam Abbas, his wife Dr. Rima Abbas, and their three children, A.J., Isabella, and Giselle. The family was killed in Kentucky by a wrong-way drunk driver while traveling home from a family vacation in Florida.
