The secret breathalizer (housed within the steering wheel) can register if the driver has had too many beers to drive, by his breath. If he is over the limit the car will not start. The man may be confused by this but nevertheless he will not be able to drive his car until he is not drunk.-- gizmo, Nov 26 2001 Breathalyzer ignition interlock http://www.advantag...f%20San%20Diego.htmCourt mandated breathalyzer for DUI offenders. [bristolz, Nov 26 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] Draeger ignition interlock http://www.draeger-...oduct-interlock.htmAnother breathalyzer ignition interlock and there's plenty more.. [bristolz, Nov 26 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] Passive mode interlock http://raru.adelaid...95/paper/s24p4.htmlI was wrong, the interlock mentioned here is passive, or "non-intrusive." [bristolz, Nov 26 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] The only part of this that is new is the "secret" or passive part. See links.-- bristolz, Nov 26 2001 Wouldn't you find out about this when you bought the car? "Sir, all our new models come with 'secret breath' as standard!" I don't see how you'd keep it a secret.-- pottedstu, Nov 26 2001 boo / hiss I don't want a machine, fallable or not, keeping me from doing what I'm about to do.-- reensure, Nov 26 2001 Maybe this could be added at the owners expense after a drunk driving offense,,, of course I dson't know how to stop them from driving someone else's car-- lindylou, Aug 30 2002 Implant a RFID chip into the offender's palm if he/she has had their license revoked from a drunk driving charge. In all new cars, require a transponder to identify the chip and disable the ignition if said driver tries to start the car.
If the seat sensed pressure and the steering wheel sensed a grip, and got no response back, then it would assume it is safe to start.
It wouldn't work immediatley, but within several years when most cars had it, it could happen.
It's not perfect, and of course, there are always the flaws, such as the offender purposely removing the transponder from the car, or in the most dire case, resorting to removing the chip from his/her palm. (don't want to think about that...)
It could also be used for police officers to identify convicted drunk drivers during a traffic stop. If he suspects the person is drunk, he whips out his RFID scanner and runs the driver's hand by it.-- BinaryCookies, Aug 30 2002 They have disposable breathalyzers at the corner store by my house. They don't give a readout or anything, but a chemical reaction changes the colour of an indicator. It's supposed to be used to see if you're too drunk to drive/legally able to drive despite being drunk. However, I think most of the people who buy it do so only so that they can say "HOLY SHIT! I'm tanked. Look at that! It's like... off the chart. Shit."
Not that I'd have any firsthand experience in situations like this or anything...-- rapid transit, May 20 2003 random, halfbakery