Toyota Developing Anti-Drunk Driving System

[Dragon]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/...Id=119058Toyota

TOKYO — Toyota is reportedly close to completion of a system that will stop a vehicle from starting if a driver takes the wheel having had too much alcohol, according to a report carried by the Japanese daily, Asahi Shimbun.

The system is set up to use sweat sensors in the steering wheel to measure alcohol levels in a would-be driver's bloodstream, the report says. It is also able to slow and then stop a vehicle that is already moving, by means of sensors that notice unusual steering patterns and a camera that notes whether the driver's pupils are focused.

Toyota reportedly will be ready to put the anti-drunk-driving system into vehicles by the end of 2009, reports said.

What this means to you: Big Brother may be watching you in your own car, but the sad proliferation of alcohol-related accidents worldwide may mean this is a necessary form of snooping.

I can imagine a million + 1 reasons why this could go off accidentally.

[The O.C.]

This DAMN well better be OPTIONAL......

I'm not gonna have some f*cking big-brother-type system deciding when or if I'm gonna drive......

Say goodbye to going out to dinner and having, say, two glasses of wine with dinner.....that would most likely put you over the limit and shut your car down.

I HATE all this drunk-driving PC $h!.....

Don't get me wrong....I'm all for getting drunk-driving criminals off the roads....the ones that kill or injure people, etc.....but dammit I'm pissed that the laws today conspire against someone like myself going out for what I'll call "social" drinking....and then have to risk my license and driving record in the off-chance I'd get a DUI for being barely or slightly over the limit....

Groups like M.A.D.D. have their own agendas and do nothing but make things WORSE for the majority of us out there......I guarantee you if this system is successful, one day, you'll find it STD equipment in every car offered for sale in the U.S.

Edited January 4, 2007 by The O.C.

[CARBIZ]

I'm all for safety and traffic laws, but where will this all end? We get bamboozled by very big numbers every day. Yes, there are thousands of traffic fatalities every year in North America and, yes, many of those are alcohol related, but the safety nazis are going to railroad all of us into walking to work every day because ANYTHING else is inherently less safe.

Getting out of bed in the morning is unsafe. The next idiot driving up over the hill could be drunk, could be on the cellphone, could be slapping his bratty kids in the back seat, could be arguing with his girlfriend - who knows! The possibilities are endless, yet the safety nazis have their own agenda (didn't MADD just have a huge flap over their organizers sucking the pot dry for their own paycheques?) and they won't stop until the speed limit is 10 mph, you can only drive during the day, you need to wear a helmet in your car with a 9 point shoulder harness, 25 air bags - oh, and don't forget to pay your carbon credits!

[Flybrian]

I guarantee you if this system is successful, one day, you'll find it STD equipment in every car offered for sale in the U.S.

Oh, man. That's a whole 'nother can of worms. Can't drive if you have a herpes outbreak?

Oh. Wait...

[The O.C.]

Oh, man. That's a whole 'nother can of worms. Can't drive if you have a herpes outbreak?

Oh. Wait...

LOL......"STD"

[aaaantoine]

"It is also able to slow and then stop a vehicle that is already moving, by means of sensors that notice unusual steering patterns and a camera that notes whether the driver's pupils are focused."

This thing would pull me over if I were sober.

[Dragon]

"It is also able to slow and then stop a vehicle that is already moving, by means of sensors that notice unusual steering patterns and a camera that notes whether the driver's pupils are focused."

This thing would pull me over if I were sober.

+1 Everybody's cars will be shutting down. craptacular.

imagine you're on the highway, and some idiot starts to move into your lane, and there's a moron on your ass.

You can

a) swerve to him, car shuts off, you get rear-ended

b)keep going and hit him

c)brake and get rear-ended

anyway, you're f@#ked....really f@#king safe

Edited January 4, 2007 by Dragon

[FAPTurbo]

Pfft. This system is far from foolproof, especially the sweat sensor... all you need is a pair of gloves, or a ten dollar steering wheel cover from Wal-Mart.

If it's optional... is some rummy going to option it? Hell no.

And if it comes standard... is someone who knows better, going to want to pay more for a system that won't apply to them? Hell no; they'll buy another vehicle instead.

[siegen]

Gloves and sun glasses FTW!