Driver impairment-detection technologies will be added to vehicle safety criteria of a major ratings group this decade.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety told representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving that it plans to add the criterion by 2030, in addition to driver-attention systems and speed assistance features. The goal is to encourage automakers to add the technologies to their lineups.
IIHS’ safety ratings are also tied to safety awards it bestows on vehicle models that can influence consumer purchases and that automakers and dealers leverage in their marketing. Past awards criteria additions helped move automakers to add air bags and collision-avoidance technology to their vehicles, the nonprofit group said.
As other safety technologies are developed, they offer the potential to make the roads safer, says IIHS, which has a goal of cutting U.S. road deaths by 30% by 2030.
The group plans to conduct research on technologies that can detect risky driving behaviors and even intervene when they take place, in addition to exploration of policies to discourage risking driving, it told MADD representatives during a roundtable discussion marking MADD’s 45th anniversary.
Impaired driving, after falling in 1980s and 1990s, causes almost a third of traffic deaths, said IIHS, which estimates that over 10,000 such fatalities could be prevented each year if driver-impairment technology was added to all vehicles.
The first technology IIHS will add to its ratings criteria around risky driving prevention will be intelligent speed assistance, which will be among its awards requirements in 2027.