Driving may soon be something only sober people can do

Something that was included in the massive federal infracstructure bill caught my attention: in a few years, it’s going to be a lot harder to drive while intoxicated. That’s because monitoring systems are going to have to be installed in new cars to catch operators who shouldn’t be behind the wheel.

The idea behind this mandate is to “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired.” Exactly what that is going to look like isn’t at all clear yet. Different ideas are going to be pitched to the transportation officials who decide these things, and they will have to decide which kind of system will work best.

Although the mandate is to have this in place as soon as 2026, it could easily take much longer. Not only do these passive systems need to be designed and tested, there will also be questions about what the drivers themselves will think. A system that requires blowing into a hose before the car will start could seem inconvenient, or even unsanitary. Another idea being floated involves installing cameras that track whether the driver’s eyes are on the road or not. Will Americans consider that a violation of privacy?

Driving while intoxicated carries serious penalties in New York, precisely because it is extremely dangerous. It will be interesting to see what comes of this new legislation, but if you are facing charges like this right now, contact me to talk about your prospects. These consultations are free at Selby Legal.