Jan Withers, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, told reporters Wednesday that an optional device to prevent drunk driving could help to eliminate alcohol-related traffic deaths. U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is co-sponsoring a bill that provides funding for the devices.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving hopes devices can be installed in all cars to prevent alcohol-related deaths one day.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving hopes devices can be installed in all cars to prevent alcohol-related deaths one day.
Jan Withers was in Charleston on Wednesday to announce support of a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. The bill would provide a kick-start for the National Highway Traffic Administration's Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety [DADSS] program.
That program sponsors technologies to install optional devices in vehicles, such as a Breathalyzer.
The devices would notify drivers if they were at or above the legal limit to drive -- a blood alcohol content of .08 or less. If the driver gives a bad reading, then the vehicle's ignition would not start, Withers said at a news conference on the steps of the Kanawha County Courthouse.
"The DADSS program moves us closer to MADD's dream of a nation without drunk drivers," she said.
She would like to see the devices used in company vehicles, at first, or for parents' use to monitor teenage drivers.
Withers told reporters about her 15-year-old daughter, Alisa, who was killed by an underage drunk driver in 1992.
"We only think it could happen to someone else. Well on April 16, 1992 my daughter became that someone else," she said.
The devices could expand to all cars around the nation and be as second nature as an "airbag," she said.
The sponsored devices would be different than court-ordered Breathalyzers for DUI offenders because those are set at a zero tolerance for alcohol detection.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving hopes devices can be installed in all cars to prevent alcohol-related deaths one day.
Jan Withers was in Charleston on Wednesday to announce support of a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito. The bill would provide a kick-start for the National Highway Traffic Administration's Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety [DADSS] program.
That program sponsors technologies to install optional devices in vehicles, such as a Breathalyzer.
The devices would notify drivers if they were at or above the legal limit to drive -- a blood alcohol content of .08 or less. If the driver gives a bad reading, then the vehicle's ignition would not start, Withers said at a news conference on the steps of the Kanawha County Courthouse.
"The DADSS program moves us closer to MADD's dream of a nation without drunk drivers," she said.
She would like to see the devices used in company vehicles, at first, or for parents' use to monitor teenage drivers.
Withers told reporters about her 15-year-old daughter, Alisa, who was killed by an underage drunk driver in 1992.
"We only think it could happen to someone else. Well on April 16, 1992 my daughter became that someone else," she said.
The devices could expand to all cars around the nation and be as second nature as an "airbag," she said.
The sponsored devices would be different than court-ordered Breathalyzers for DUI offenders because those are set at a zero tolerance for alcohol detection.
Rob Strassburger, vice president of vehicle safety and harmonization for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said he is working with two companies to develop the devices. They have an option to go with a breath-test device or a device that measures oxygen content through touch similar to a pulse reading during a doctor's visit.
The first step would be to begin testing the devices in a laboratory setting before releasing it for public consumption, he said.
Capito, R-W.Va., said $12 million of federal funds were redirected to support the program. The funds come from an unused national seatbelt promotional program, she said.
Several law enforcement officials spoke Wednesday in favor of the legislation including Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford.
Rutherford said he was hospitalized in the late 1970s after being struck by a drunk driver. More recently, his wife and son were hospitalized after being struck by drunk drivers on separate occasions, he said.
He and his family weren't seriously injured -- but that's not the case for all West Virginia families, he said.
About 315 deaths were caused by DUI-related traffic accidents in the state in 2010, down about 42 deaths from 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Governor's Highway Safety Program.
"This is a tragic thing that doesn't need to be," Rutherford said.
Reach Travis Crum at travis.c...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
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