Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Oy

Let's hope the "leaving Congress soon" rumors are true.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler announced Monday he has introduced bipartisan legislation that would fund a program to develop in-vehicle technology to prevent drunk driving.

...

These include sensors on the steering wheel or engine start button that determine a driver's blood alcohol content, or sensors that passively monitor a driver's breath or eye movements.

A vehicle would not start if these sensors indicate the driver's blood alcohol level is above .08, the legal alcohol limit.

Even if we imagine a world where passive technology like this worked perfectly this is just dumb. Drunk driving is bad and people shouldn't do it, but sometimes in life people need to weigh one bad against another. Preventing people from using their vehicles could put people in (different) danger.