Posted on 05/29/2005 4:16:10 PM PDT by kingattax
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A Fort Lauderdale man has created a steering wheel that contains a skin sensor that blocks a vehicle from starting or running if the driver is drunk, an invention he thinks could reducing alcohol-related accidents.
Dennis Bellehumeur, 54, hopes the $600 device will become a standard safety feature. He spent 12 years creating the device, which tests the skin on a driver's hands to determine alcohol content. The invention should complete testing this year, said Bellehumeur, who received a U.S. patent this month.
"I hope one day I'll get a call from some guy saying, 'I was drunk and could've killed someone, but because of you, I couldn't start my car,'" said Bellehumeur, a real estate agent and deli owner in Wilton Manors.
His son Jim prompted the invention. In 1989, Jim, then 16, drove drunk on Ontario's streets and crashed into a light pole. He suffered a minor brain injury and spent five years in therapy.
"Thank God no one was killed. It was a real wake-up call. I wanted to do something," Bellehumeur said.
The sensor is installed in the steering wheel or gloves worn by the driver. A two-minute warning precedes the shut-off. The device can be adjusted to each state's alcohol limit.
State Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, plans to present the device to his colleagues in Tallahassee after it has been properly tested.
A similar device has been on the market for three decades. The "breath alcohol ignition interlock" requires a driver to blow into an instrument connected to the vehicle's ignition system.
James Frank, a research psychologist for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said Bellehumeur might have a tough time pitching his invention as a standard feature.
"I'm not sure the auto industry is prepared to accept that for cost reasons," he said. "Neither will the driving public because the majority of them don't drink and drive. We're not there yet."
Drunken driving killed an estimated 17,419 people in 2002, about half the nation's total traffic fatalities, according to the agency
'I was drunk and could've killed someone, but because of you, I couldn't start my car...and so it got hit by a train because I stopped on the tracks...'"
I would hate to do that, too
If he names this device the "Chappaquiddick" he'll get tons of free publicity..... but then the lefties at MADD probably won't touch it.
What next, outlaw steering wheel grip covers? This guy didn't quite think this thing out first.
Muleteam1
No more statist posts today, please. You're at your limit now.
It's a deal! But only when the the term "statist" is no longer abused and over used. :)
self-inflicted *pong* :(
"The "breath alcohol ignition interlock" requires a driver to blow into an instrument connected to the vehicle's ignition system."
Isn't the problem with this that the driver can have someone else blow into the instrument instead? Seems I read where this has been done...
self inflicted pong...sounds painful! yes, someone,besides the driver could just blow into that device, there are random tests so someone couldn't just ' help' you get on your way.
"Fort Lauderdale Man Invents Steering Wheel That Tests for Alcohol"
Does that mean some of our FR members will never be able to drive in this lifetime?
Ha! I thought the same thing. I use alot of the alcohol foam at work and wondered if it would register on something like this.
Let me know when the "Fort Lauderdale Man" comes up with something that stops cell phone using, breakfast sammich eating, coffee drinking, makeup applying, screaming at kids, 17 year old lane switching @ 75 mph, and all the other evils associated with our roads.
Punish bad driving. Period. Make no distinctions.
: )
(you are redeemed)
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(you are redeemed)
ooooooops
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