Most people are unaware of the Impaired Driving Prevention Technology Provision in the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. This law requires a national safety standard for smart technology in new vehicles that would theoretically eliminate or at least, significantly decrease incidents of impaired driving. At the time this legislation was enacted, United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg estimated that the legislation would save 1,000 deaths and 25,000 in injuries caused by drunk driving each month. This does not include the cost of $58 billion per year to the U.S. economy.[1]
This law, officially the “Honoring Abbas Family Legacy to Terminate Drunk Driving Act,” is often referred to as the “Halt Drunk Driving Act,”[2] requiring the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to prescribe for passenger motor vehicles a safety standard by 2026 to be equipped with “advanced drunk driving prevention” technology. The term “advanced drunk driving prevention technology” means a passive system which:
(A) monitors a driver’s performance to identify impairment of a driver;
(B) a system which passively detects a blood alcohol level equal to and exceeding .08 blood alcohol content; or
(C) a similar system which detects impairment and prevents or limits vehicle operation[3]
Practically speaking, this “passive” technology may include ignition analog devices (breath sensors that measure blood alcohol concentration before allowing the vehicle to start), but may also be very different from ignition interlock devices. For instance, these devices could prevent a vehicle from operating once the vehicle decides the driver is impaired. The technology could include options such as air monitors to sample the vehicle cabin air for traces of alcohol; skin sensors to measure the driver’s blood alcohol level when the steering wheel is touched by the driver; and even cameras to monitor and detect signs of impairment in vehicle movement, or the driver’s eye or head movements.
Related to the “Halt Drunk Driving Act” is The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) Program that began in 2008. It is aimed at developing breath systems, touch systems, and other technology that can passively detect a driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and prevent the vehicle from moving if the BAC is at or above the legal limit. The DADSS Research Program is a partnership involving the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Opponents of this law cite concerns about vehicle and driver information being shared with third parties, unreliable technology, and dealing with false positives. For instance, a driver could swerve to avoid a deer on a rural road, only to then have their vehicle disabled.[4]
There is no question that driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs need to be further curbed. However, as with all technology, society must be extremely cautious not to allow computers to control our lives.
[1] See https://madd.org/press-release/10-things-to-know-about-the-drunk-driving-prevention-technology-provision-in-the-infrastructure-bill/ (last visited Feb. 27, 2026).
[2] H.R.2138 in the 117th Congress (2021).
[3] H.R.2138 in the 117th Congress (2021).
[4] See https://apnews.com/article/federal-law-impairment-detection-car-dui-062d40e885a0e32c6cad0ba70163aef8 (last visited Feb. 27, 2026).
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 (1942 – 2023) 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 10 foreign countries. After being named a Fulbright Scholar, Steve was honored to teach as a Visiting Professor at the University of Latvia Faculty of Law (Law School) in the capital city of Riga, Latvia for a semester during 2019. In 2023, Steve accepted an offer to teach for a semester as a Visiting Professor at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary. Steve was designated a Fulbright Scholar for a second time and taught American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at The University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law in the capital city of Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 2024 spring semester. Since then, Steve taught American Trial Advocacy to Masters Students in Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law for the Winter Semester in 2025 at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Faculty of Law in Madrid, Spain and at The University of Gdańsk Faculty of Law in Poland during the winter semester of 2026. If you would like to contact the author, please visit his website at www.tndui.com.
