(Credit:
Volvo Car)
Volvo is offering a tool to help drivers realize when they are too drunk to drive.
Its Alcoguard device tests alcohol levels in drivers and will be available as an option on its 2008 Volvo S80, V70 and XC70 models in Sweden, the U.S. and Europe.
The Alcoguard is a handheld device that wirelessly integrates with the car to prevent drivers over the legal alcohol limit from starting it up. Volvo refers to the device, which must be used within 10 meters (about 33 feet) of the car, as an "alcolock."
Drivers must blow into the device, which is powered by fuel-cell technology, before the car with an alcolock can be started.
"Unlike semiconductors, for instance, fuel cells only react to ethanol and nothing else. In the fuel cell, the ethanol molecules pass through a sensitive membrane and an electrical current is generated. This current is then measured. Higher current means more alcohol in the driver's breath," David Nilsson, technical project manager for Alcoguard at Volvo Cars, said in a statement.
Test results showing more than a 0.2 g/l alcohol level (the Swedish limit) are indicated with a red LED light and the car's engine will not start. The car will start with results below 0.1 g/l alcohol indicated by a green LED and between 0.1 - 0.2 g/l indicated with a yellow LED. The tool can be adjusted by Volvo to meet the blood alcohol limits of specific countries.
Results are stored for up to 30 minutes so drivers don't have to keep retesting every time they turn off the car and then get back in again within a short time span as they would while running errands.
The obvious question is whether drivers can cheat the device. While a drunk driver could theoretically have someone else start the car for them, this would necessitate a sober person enabling the drunk person to drive. A drunk person alone would not be able to get around the system.
"Thanks to advanced sensors, it is not possible to use external air sources such as a pump to cheat the system," said Volvo in a statement.
The feature will be of specific value to fleet-based cars used by companies, municipalities, police forces and taxi services, said Volvo in a statement. It plans to add the tool as an option to its other models by summer 2008.
Nissan announced similar DUI-technology in July 2007.
Minnesota authorities have missed a court-imposed deadline for turning over the source code for a breath-testing machine at the heart of a a high-profile dispute that recently made it to the state's Supreme Court.
That means now there's a greater chance that charges could be dropped against third-degree DUI defendant Dale Lee Underdahl.
The Intoxilyzer 5000EN is used in more than 20 states, according to the manufacturer.
(Credit: Connecticut Department of Public Safety)The next step is a court hearing scheduled for September 19, Underdahl's attorney, Jeffrey Sheridan, told CNET News.com in a phone interview on Tuesday. At the hearing, Sheridan is expected to ask the judge to throw out any evidence the state had obtained using the the Intoxilyzer 5000EN. If the judge agrees, at least one charge--that his client was driving with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit of .08--would likely be dismissed.
Sheridan had predicted in an interview with CNET News.com last month that the Minnesota state public safety commissioner would not supply him with the source code to the device, as ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court, by the August 17 deadline.
Minnesota Department of Public Safety representatives declined to comment on the case on Tuesday, citing a policy not to comment on pending litigation. Sheridan said the government has made no legal filings explaining why it didn't comply with the deadline.
The state has previously argued it's not entitled to the code because of its confidential, copyrighted and proprietary nature. But the Minnesota Supreme Court in late July concluded that language in the contract between the device's manufacturer, Kentucky-based CMI, and the state indicates the source code belongs by extension to Minnesota. The justices suggested the state must do whatever it takes to enforce that contract, even if it means, for example, suing CMI.
CMI, which bills itself as a leading maker of alcohol-testing equipment, says law enforcement agencies in 40 states and in Canada use its products. Its resistance to giving up its code, however, has already led to charges being thrown out or blunted in recent cases in other states.
CMI representatives did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
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