Senate $1T infrastructure bill: New auto standards to prevent drunk driving and ...

Senate $1T infrastructure bill: New auto standards to prevent drunk driving and ...
Senate $1T infrastructure bill: New auto standards to prevent drunk driving and ...

The Senate's 2,700-page bill contains requirements for new auto safety standards (pictured: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on August 4)

The Senate's 2,700-page bill contains requirements for new auto safety standards (pictured: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on August 4)

With health and safety provisions like alcohol monitors and technology to curb hot car child deaths, the Senate's 2,700-page infrastructure bill details extensive reforms beyond repairs to the country's roads and bridges.  

The $1.2 trillion piece of legislation states that 'advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology must be standard equipment in all new passenger motor vehicles,' and that vehicles should be able to 'prevent or limit' operation if a driver is impaired. 

It calls for a window of five to six years for the new standard to go into effect.  

About 28 people die in the US every day in drunk driving crashes, according to the NHTSA - one person every 52 minutes.

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program is a public-private partnership partially funded by the US government and is currently working on two separate alcohol detection systems that would require no action from the driver.

The first is a sensor testing the air within the car to detect a driver's blood alcohol levels - but to work it would need to distinguish the driver's breath from any inebriated passengers.

The second is an infrared touch sensor to detect blood alcohol level through skin that could be built into a steering wheel or start button. 

Another provision focused on vehicles equipped with breathalizers

Another provision focused on vehicles equipped with breathalizers

Drunk driving kills roughly one American every 52 minutes

Drunk driving kills roughly one American every 52 minutes

Another auto safety provision in the Senate's bill designates the Secretary of Transport to issue an auto safety standard rule requiring all new cars to be built with a system to alert the driver if a child or pet is left in the back seat.

The number of children dying from heatstroke rose to a record 53 per year in 2018 and 2019, according to NHTSA data.

The alert system is supposed to go into effect when the driver turns off the vehicle and include both auditory and visual components.

Funding on the state and federal levels is also allocated toward educating people 'regarding the risks of leaving a child or unattended passenger in a vehicle.' 

More than 50 children died in hot car deaths in both 2018 and 2019

More than 50 children died in hot car deaths in both 2018 and 2019

It also commissions a DOT study on how to improve hot car detection in existing vehicles as well as the development of further technology down the line. 

Another section in the $1.2 trillion bill notes that women make up 47 per cent of the workforce, but just 6.6 per cent of truckers. 

It also states that women truck drivers have been demonstrated to be 20 percent less likely to get in a crash than male counterparts. It states the sense of Congress

Female truck drivers are less likely to be involved in an accident, according to a provision of the infrastructure bill, which also contains provisions on invasive species and Amtrak funding

Female truck drivers are less likely to be involved in an accident, according to a provision of the infrastructure bill, which also contains provisions on invasive species and Amtrak funding

'that the trucking industry should explore every opportunity to encourage and support the pursuit and retention of careers in trucking by women, including through programs that support recruitment, driver training, and mentorship.'

Another transportation provision also requires research on limousine safety. It specifically seeks research 'into the development of motor vehicle safety standards for side impact protection, roof crush resistance, and air bag systems for the protection of occupants in limousines with alternative seating positions, including perimeter seating arrangements.'

One section seeks to control invasive species which can choke out native plants or sometimes harm the environment. A provision seeks to make use of 'native plants and wildflowers, including those that are pollinator-friendly' in transportation projects that involve native plants – an apparent effort to combat a decline in bees.  It is one of many portions of environmental language included in a project

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