In a story published by CNN, and as previously noted on this website, the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendation of alcohol impairment detection systems is moving forward. See “Will The 2021 Infrastructure Legislation Make Drunk Driving A Thing of the Past?” and “Apple Developing iPhone Feature to Prevent Drunk Driving.”
The NTSB 2017 Safety Study, “Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles,” however, is not moving as quickly. As reported by CNN, “the NTSB also suggested the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) incentivize ‘vehicle manufacturers and consumers to adopt intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) systems that would prevent speed-related crashes.’ These systems can range from a warning system that issues visual or audible alerts when a driver is speeding to a system that electronically limits the speed of a vehicle. The NTSB did not specify which type of system should be adopted.”
According to the news report, “[i]ntelligent speed adaptation systems have gained some traction in the European market, where they will be mandatory in all new cars being sold there from July 2024. The new cars will issue either a ‘cascaded acoustic warning,’ a ‘cascaded vibrating warning,’ ‘haptic feedback through the acceleration pedal’ or a ‘speed control function,’ according to the European Commission. A driver can override the ISA system, the commission says.
New York City is also piloting a fleet of city vehicles with an ISA system in place. The city announced in August that 50 vehicles operated by city employees will have systems that will set a maximum speed for the vehicle and “will also be adaptable based on the local speed limit.” The system has an active modality, which will automatically slow a vehicle down, and passive modality, which will alert a driver when they’re speeding.
The vehicles will be retrofitted and installed in vehicles across a variety of city departments, and will also be tested on 14 new, all-electric Ford Mach Es.”
Changes may be coming to your car in the near future. Are we continuing to lose our privacy?
About the Author: Steven Oberman has been licensed in Tennessee since 1980, and successfully defended over 2,500 DUI defendants. Steve was the first lawyer in Tennessee to be Board Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (NCDD). Among the many honors bestowed upon him, Steve has served as Dean of the NCDD and currently serves as chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers DUI Committee.
He is the author of DUI: The Crime & Consequences in Tennessee, updated annually since 1991 (Thomson-West), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor of the national treatise, Drunk Driving Defense, 9th edition (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen). Steve has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Law School since 1993 and has received a number of prestigious awards for his faculty contributions. He is a popular international speaker, having spoken at legal seminars in 30 states, the District of Columbia and six foreign countries. After being named a Fulbright Scholar, Steve was honored to teach as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Latvia Law School in the capital city of Riga, Latvia during the Spring Semester of 2019. If you would like to contact the author, please visit his website at www.tndui.com.
