Motoring News

A car which is able to tell whether the driver has been drinking alcohol has been revealed by Nissan, which has unveiled the new concept vehicle complete with a range of technologies.

Firstly, the gear stick has built-in sensors which can detect the presence of alcohol from the driver’s sweat when their hand is on the transmission device. If a certain level of alcohol is found, the car is automatically immobilised and a voice alerts the motorist.

In addition, various points within the car are fitted with odour sensors which can determine whether the air contains alcohol; as before, the vehicle shuts down should this be detected.

A monitoring system has also been developed to keep track of how the car is being operated. It can identify signs of distraction – such as the vehicle constantly drifting out of the lane – and tightens the driver’s seatbelt in this instance to gain their attention.

More technology is able to detect whether the person behind the wheel is drowsy, using facial recognition systems to look at the driver’s eyes to determine their state of consciousness.

Although this is not currently a car scheduled to hit showrooms, Nissan said it was developed to showcase the types of technologies that could be integrated into future models.

According to the UK government’s Think! road safety campaign, around 3,000 people are killed or badly injured annually as a result of drink-drive accidents.

The legal alcohol limit for drivers in this country is 80 mg for every 100 ml of blood.

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