WardsAuto Podcast: Facial, Eye Recognition Key to NHTSA Move to Detect Drunken Drivers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. (NHTSA) is working on rule-making that would mandate automakers to equip vehicles starting in 2026 with technology that detects drunken drivers.

The 2022 Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act mandated that NHTSA look into this area as the law also increased NHTSA’s budget by 50%. The law requires the regulator to issue a final rule within three years prescribing a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard requiring that passenger motor vehicles manufactured after the effective date of that standard be equipped with advanced drunken- and impaired-driving prevention technology. If necessary, NHTSA can extend the period for three years.

These systems would represent an annual $800 million-$1.6 billion business based on 16 million annual new-vehicle sales, as company officials say the systems will cost between $50 and $100 per vehicle.

Bosch and Magna were among the suppliers showing systems at CES 2024 that combine breath detectors and eye scanners.

This week, Senior Editor David Kiley interviewed John Nowinski, product area lead for interior sensing solutions for Bosch North America as we sat in the company’s demo car at CES2024 that shows how the system works.