Autoblog

Around Memorial Day, the chances are good that either you or somebody that you are sharing the road with today has been out and about, spending the day with family or just enjoying their time off. There have surely been many hours spent behind the wheel for drivers across the country. Hopefully, drunk driving is kept to a minimum. But, there is another possible problem-driver on the road: the drowsy driver. It's likely that most of us have had that feeling behind the wheel, where we struggle to keep our eyes open. A new study from the National Road Safety Foundation, which is a non-profit group that produces driver aids, suggests that those drowsy drivers are equally as dangerous as drunk drivers. According to its research, a third of drivers polled admit to falling asleep behind the wheel in the last year alone. Suggestions for combating drowsiness behind the wheel include the obvious: pulling over, drinking a coffee or two and waiting about half an hour for the caffeine to hit your bloodstream. Consider this a friendly reminder to be safe out there.

[Source: National Road Safety Foundation]

Click image for photo gallery

You might remember reading about Nissan piloting an in-car breathalyzer system as well as adding a drunk driving message to its cars' nav welcome screens. It turns out, the company is looking at a more comprehensive approach to anti-drunk driving technology integration. The effort has born fruit in the form of a Nissan Fuga (Infiniti M) sedan that is outfitted with several anti-DUI countermeasures. It's just a concept right now, but the approach taken is very interesting.

The Fuga's shifter contains a sensor which measures the amount of alcohol in the driver's hand perspiration. If it is beyond the preset limit, it will immobilize the car and not allow it to be driven. It reinforces the message with a verbal warning from the navigation system. Additional odor sensors in the front seats check for alcohol odor in the air. If any is detected, warnings are issued via the nav system.

Follow the jump for the other features.

[Source: Nissan]

Last week in Orange Beach, Ala., a police officer spotted a speeding Monte Carlo, threw on the blue lights and started an 8-mile, 100-mph chase that ended with the Monte upside down.

With his gun drawn, the officer says he approached the car to find an 11-year-old girl behind the wheel. Sorry, an allegedly drunk, slightly injured 11-year-old girl behind the wheel.

Orange Beach assistant police chief Greg Duck wouldn't say what the girl's blood alcohol level was, but did say it was higher than the legal limit for adults, .08 grams per milliliter, and much higher than what state law allows for anyone under 21, which is .02 gpm.

We're baffled. First, that an 11-year-old can see above the steering wheel, much less reportedly pilot a Monte Carlo at 100 mph. Second that she is accused of being drunk while doing it. And third, that Alabama has a blood alcohol limit for minors.

Wow. Just wow.

[Source: Press-Register]

It's very a very HAL 9000 move, having your vehicle admonish you to not drive after drinking, but that's just what the latest version of Nissan's Carwings navigation system for the Japanese market will do. Between the hours of 5:30 PM and 5:00 AM, the navigation system displays "Do not drive after drinking!" for five seconds after startup. During the day, the navi nanny merely gives the stern suggestion of "Let's continue safe driving today." We're almost expecting that firm "Hmm" at the end, like we used to get from our parochial school principal, but alas, there's even less personality in the Nissan than there was in our old pal Frank. Nissan's making an ongoing commitment to reducing drunk driving and increasing road safety, and this system is part of that effort. Anything that can be done to increase safety and reduce intoxication behind the wheel is a good thing, but we'd rather see a blunter message, something like "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that."

[Source: Winding Road]

According to recent statistics in the UK, there has been an increase in alcohol-related automotive fatalities, causing British legislators to rethink the legally accepted level of alcohol found in the bloodstream. Currently, drivers are cited for drunk drink driving if they have 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of their blood. The government in Britain is considering lowering that number to 50 mg per 100 ml (about a half a pint of the finest lager, dependent on weight), bringing it closer to that of other countries in the EU.

Although several organizations are behind the proposed change, the bigger question is whether or not the current limits are enforced. In the UK, only motorists that have given police cause to pull them over are subjected to DUI testing – that means that no random checks are instituted, nor are DUI check points employed.

If and when this legislation passes, officials expect the UK's rate of drunk drink driving arrests to increase, while alcohol-related fatalities decrease.

[Source: 4Car]

Swedish researchers have discovered that a low-calorie diet can register a false positive on certain in-car ignition interlock devices that disable a vehicle if alcohol is detected on one's breath. The anomaly was discovered when a non-drinking airplane pilot reported the incident. Turns out the man was on a very restrictive diet that had him losing weight rapidly, which is what may have caused the false reading. As reported in the latest issue of the International Journal of Obesity, motorists on very low-calorie diets may release certain ketones that could be converted into a secondary alcohol known as isopropanol.

Police officials point out that false positives are eliminated in the field as breathalyzer tests are used in conjunction with secondary tests that focus on the type of alcohol and other factors. No citation for drunk driving would be issued in those situations. However, if you have one of these interlock devices on your car, your low-cal diet could spell the demise of your travel plans.

[Source: drive.com.au]

Of course, just like any sane person would be, we at Autoblog are totally against drunk driving. There have been a few technological nannies cropping up of late lately to help combat the problem, including breathalyzers mounted in vehicles that are wired to the ignition circuit. Thise devices won't allow your car to start until you've passed the test. We won't weigh in on whether these are a good idea or not at this time (personal rights or the rights of others?), but we will show you a new talking urinal cake that's designed to remind men to call a cab or get a designated driver if they have had too much to drink.

The urinal cakes are made in New York, and have reportedly been used by advertisers already. We're not sure how we would react if given an advertisement while we were... ahem, relieving ourselves, but a friendly reminder to drive safely may not be the worst advice in the world, huh?

[Source: Yahoo News]

Uh-oh. Little Al is in trouble again. AP is reporting that Al Unser Jr. is under arrest and facing DUI charges after leaving the scene of an accident on the Las Vegas Beltway. He was ID'd as the driver of a car that sideswiped another car around 11 Thursday morning. Unser's car didn't have much damage but the other car hit the center median. Neither driver reported any injuries.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Honea said Unser failed sobriety tests before they took him in. Among the charges Little Al faces are driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, failure to render aid in an accident and failure to report an accident. Junior has had previous problems with alcohol and even went through treatment after the 2002 incident where he allegedly hit his girlfriend in the face.

Thanks for the tip, mavkato!

[Source: AP via Sports Illustrated]

A few months ago we told you of Nissan's plans to test an ignition interlock that would stop intoxicated would-be drivers from starting their cars. Several recent high-profile, alcohol-related accidents and fatalities in Japan have brought drunk driving to the forefront of lawmakers' minds, and Nissan appeared to be one of the first Japanese automakers to address the issue. Not one to let rival Nissan get the jump on them, Toyota Motor Corp. is said to be working on its own drunk driving inhibitor system. And it sounds pretty sci-fi to us. Actually, it sounds pretty Big Brother with huge potential safety concerns.

The Toyota system would involve sensors in the steering wheel that could detect alcohol through the sweat of the driver's hands. The system would stop drunk drivers from operating their vehicles by automatically shutting things down if it detects intoxication. And in case the steering wheel sensors don't detect the elevated blood alcohol content (say, if the driver was wearing gloves), sensors could also detect irregular steering inputs (please define "irregular" for driving enthusiasts), or cameras could even monitor the driver's pupils for signs of lack of focus (maybe they wear their sunglasses at night). If anything seems out of order, the vehicle would slowly come to a halt, hopefully not in the middle of freeway traffic. Better to get the drunk driver off the road, but anytime the car takes over the driving, we wonder whether the problem might actually be compounded.

[Source: Detroit News]

Imagine you're motoring along and you see a fellow motorist stuck by the side of the road. You think about just driving on, but something about the scene grabs you and you decide to pull over to lend some assistance. You jump out and rush over to see if you can help, and you promptly find yourself under arrest. This isn't a story of the law run amok, though.

You see, this particular Good Samaritan was drunk. So drunk in fact that he didn't recognize that the "stranded motorist" he had offered to aid was in fact a car being inspected by police officers for a minor violation. This was the scene in the northwest German town of Bremen. Police arrested the 37-year-old man and banned him from driving. "Obviously his optical assessment of the situation as he drove past was that this was a vehicle breakdown," the police said in a statement.

With the New Year's weekend about to kick off, we felt like we had to share this warning about the types of people you might be sharing the roadways with. Granted this happened in Germany, but we know there will be more than a few of these types on our roads as well. If you think you might be one of them, use a DD. This PSA brought to you by ABADD (AutoBloggers Against Drunk Driving). Have a Happy and Safe New Year.

[Source: Reuters]