upvote
I knew somebody with an interlock and if they were around too much car exhaust in a relatively enclosed space, the ethanol in the air would trip the detector apparently.
reply
Having to blow while you're already driving is supposed to be a feature. It's to dissuade people from successfully turning on their car, immediately drinking, and then driving.
reply
30 seconds seems a bit fast to force that though, no? There’s not always a safe place to pull over.
reply
deleted
reply
If it only kicks in at 45 or lower (i.e., not the highway) then there's always a safe place to pull over. I have no idea how it actually does work though, thankfully.
reply
Stuck in stop and go traffic on the freeway doesn’t sound like a good place to me, but I’ve never had a DUI so meh?
reply
Is this comment a joke or do you not understand how dangerous it is to ask a driver to blow into a breathalyzer while operating a vehicle?

All this seems to be is a company collecting corporate welfare while doing the bare minimum. Such companies should both be sanctioned and have their leadership investigated for potential fraud.

If you receive public dollars to function, the public should expect some modicum of sensibility and accountability.

reply
I think they shouldn’t be driving in the first place. Suspend DL for one year and move on.
reply
The main problem is that, in a lot of parts of the US, your options are "drive or be homeless".

The ideal solution is needing less driving overall. But excessively punishing people doesn't fix the problem. They're still gonna drive, most likely.

reply
The person I mentioned in my story upthread had the one-year suspension followed by the interlock requirement for another year
reply
Someone who drives drunk ought to drive with the interlock for life.

Generally driving drunk is a sign of addiction.... And that can come back anytime, and killing bystanders is clearly a worse outcome.

reply
> Generally driving drunk is a sign of addiction....

No it is not.

reply
Repeatedly driving drunk absolutely is.

You might be a functioning alcoholic, but when alcohol intoxication is so prevalent in your life it interferes with day to day routines activities, it absolutely meets the psychosocial definition of addiction, and likely points to a deeper one.

reply
The wording used did not indicate they were taking about a repeat offender.
reply
LOL. Do you know how many people are driving with suspended licenses now? The number would skyrocket if systems like these didn't exist.

Especially in rural areas, you can get away with driving on a suspended license for a pretty long time before a cop catches you. I know someone who was probably (she wouldn't admit to it) doing it for at least a year.

reply
Especially in rural areas

Once while hot air balloon chasing, we saw a guy driving his 4 wheel drive in the ditches along a gravel road and found out later from someone he had a suspended license.

They said he figured the cops couldn't stop him if he stuck to the ditches and didn't operate on the official roadway.

reply
My wife used to tend bar at a place where one of the regulars would drive there on a tractor for a similar reason.
reply
Unfortunately driving on a suspended is mostly not enforced either, so giving them the carrot of keeping their license is the only thing the judicial branch can do that has much sway (other than jailing them) without being able to order the executive branch to change.
reply
[flagged]
reply
Oh wow so the judicial system is developing the software? It's not a private company that only exists to fulfill a government need with zero accountability? What were the terms of their contract? What was their SLA? How do users engage with the company?

Sorry but these companies are all scams thrusted upon the public. Any business that takes government money should be held accountable or compelled to engage in workplace democracy.

I'm not a fan of companies making garbage products while getting rich off of public dollars. Just because some people like corporate welfare doesn't mean the vast majority of the public likes it.

reply
They are accountable…. To the courts?

What does workplace accountability actually concretely mean here?

It’s the classic enterprise software issue too - the people doing the buying/selecting are not the people actually using it.

reply
Isn’t there a proposed law to install these into every single new car?
reply
Nothing specific yet, but the legal groundwork has been laid both in the US and in the EU. Starting in July, all new cars sold in the EU will need to be able to fit after-market alcohol interlocks. In the US, interlocks are already mandatory for convicted DUIers in most states, but new cars will also have to come with factory installed drunk driving prevention technology in the coming years. We just don't know how far that mandate will go eventually.
reply
obviously it will require an age verification, also you need to tell Google that you want to go somewhere 24 hours in advance, and Apple gets 30% of the revenue that gas stations make.
reply
There is no security protocol though. It will be trivial to buy an interlock which always returns 'ok to drive'.
reply
Manufacturers are now encrypting Canbus traffic, voluntarily on current and future models.

Buying or selling tools designed to break the law is already illegal - trivial or not. If a driver gets a DUI and possess a NOOP interlock, they are getting an additional charge, and get to help am investigation into the illicit device supply chain.

reply
> Buying or selling tools designed to break the law is already illegal - trivial or not.

I'm curious how this will play out. The "John Deer" exemption from the DMCA comes to mind, not sure if it's strictly for farm equipment or still in effect.

reply
There is no proposal to require these janky ass aftermarket units, nor require any type of interlock at all.

NHTSA was directed to write some guidelines/rules around the implementation of passive impairment detection as OEM features. They have yet to do so, probably because it is flaky technology.

My guess is that the final rule implementation will be similar to the distracted driver detection that is already in many new vehicles.

reply
Old cars sound better and better every year now.
reply
They’ll just make it illegal for you to drive them.
reply
Its illegal to drive under the influence now. "Just making something illegal" doesn't work
reply
Meanwhile in much of the USA registration laws aren't enforced. The last time my car was totaled (hit and run) the police didn't even show up for that either so my insurance company just ate the whole cost. DUI laws themselves are largely only enforced to the extent the accused consents to bothering to show up to court.
reply
Not really the same. There are proposals to require OEMs to install driver monitoring, but it’s usually IR camera based rather than blow in a tube fuel cell based. These systems are probably going to be a mess but the technology isn’t really comparable to DUI interlock devices and the unreliability of those systems is orthogonal.
reply
No, the 2021 infrastructure bill required automakers to install passive technology (passive meaning not requiring any specific actions from the driver) to prevent drunk driving by some future date. However, such technology doesn't really exist yet.
reply
Eh, with lane keeping features I don’t think it’d be hard to at least detect someone swerving a lot. Granted, I don’t think that would detect people that aren’t super drunk, but it’s something.

I might be wrong on that assumption - I don’t drink, myself.

reply
As is commonly commented on by cartoonists: In plenty of places driving consistently within the lines might be the actual sign you're drunk. Because the roads/potholes are bad enough that you shouldn't be, if you value your suspension.
reply
I was the DD for my friend's bachelor party and as we were leaving the bar, I saw this older gentleman struggling to start his vehicle. I had a hard time making out what he was telling me, but it looked like he had one of these devices on his car. Being the Good Samaritan that I am, I blew into the device, his car started, and he went happily on his way.
reply
Guess your joke about bypassing breath interlocks didn't go over too well.
reply
I assume you're joking, Either way. One morning when I took the bus to work the bus driver had repeated problems getting the bus to start due to the breathalyser. I heard him complain to the passenger behind him, about it malfunctioning. The passenger volunteered to test this theory, by also blowing into the device. The driver handed him the hose, the passenger gave it a go, the bus started, and the driver shrugged his shoulders, and off we went, only slightly delayed.

I'm not sure if this is preventable.

reply
If it's as flaky as my experience upthread suggests, maybe it was just that. At least, that's what I hope, for the sake of those on the bus
reply
Why does the bus have a breathalyzer rather than a damn manager who can fire the worker who smells of booze?
reply
Dunno where the parent comment was referring to, but different countries have different standards. In Colombia the bus transit stations all have breathalyzer stations and the drivers have to pass the breathalyzer before starting their shifts. It was pretty wild to see as an outsider but completely unremarkable to everyone else.
reply
Lots of troll-only accounts, recently (flagged this comment for this reason).

Is an email the best way to report these?

reply