Restaurant group say all cars don't need alcohol detectors

The Hill

(May 26, 2010)

A restaurant industry group voiced its opposition Wednesday to Rep. John Sarbanes' (D-Md.) push to mandate alcohol detection devices in all cars.

According to American Beverage Institute, Sarbanes will offer an amendment today to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010 to provide $60 million for the development of alcohol detection devices to be installed as standard equipment on all cars within 5-10 years. Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) have proposed a similar bill in the Senate.

ABI, which represents over 8,000 American restaurants, strongly opposes the bill and argues it would eliminate Americans' ability to legally enjoy a drink during an outing. The organization claims the bill would set the in-car detectors below the legal limit for intoxication due to liability concerns.

“Those supporting this bill want to use your tax dollars to pour millions into a project that seeks to make alcohol detectors – such as sniffers, skin sensors, and breathalyzers – standard in all cars as original equipment, just like seatbelts and airbags are now,” said ABI Managing Director Sarah Longwell. “This campaign represents the anti-alcohol movement at its worst.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, one of the organizations backing the amendment, set up an automated message on its website that users can customize and send to Sarbanes expressing their support for his efforts. The messages notes that almost 12,000 people each year are killed as a result of drunk driving and claims the new funding for detection technologies would be a significant step to solving the problem. It also calls the detection devices "passive, unobtrusive, reliable, accurate".

The ABI responded to MADD by arguing that alcohol detection devices should be limited to repeated offenders rather than placing the burden on all Americans.

“Everyone opposes drunk driving,” said Longwell, “but putting alcohol detectors in all cars as standard equipment—set well below .08—would make all driving Americans guilty until proven innocent every time they started their cars. Alcohol detection technology is a great way to keep hard core drunk drivers—those who cause the vast majority of alcohol-impaired fatalities—from being able to start their cars while drunk. But we shouldn’t be developing this technology with the aim of putting it in everyone’s car.”

The American Beverage Institute (www.AmericanBeverageInstitute.com) is an association of restaurants and on-premise retailers committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages.

Source: American Beverage Institute
Contact: The American Beverage Institute, 202-463-7110