Statement by Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Impaired Driving Prevention Technology
(Washington, D.C. | December 12, 2023) Today, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to require advanced impaired driving technologies as standard equipment in new vehicles. This is a positive next step in completing Section 24220 of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58); however, it is not time to celebrate until a comprehensive Final Rule is released. In 2021, 13,384 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving impaired drivers, making this issue a public health emergency. An analysis by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that impaired driving prevention systems could save over 10,000 lives per year once widely deployed.
Last week, we released our 2024 Roadmap to Safety, which recommended the need for safety technologies and improved safety standards to end impaired driving and to protect vehicle occupants and other road users. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) President Tess Rowland and other safety advocates joined us to release the report and call for immediate safety advances, including today’s announcement.
While Advocates welcomes the long-awaited news of the ANPRM, we urge NHTSA to promptly finish this critical rulemaking. We do not have the luxury of time when tens of thousands of lives can be saved in the next few years alone.
Note: Advocates is in the process of reviewing the ANPRM and will be submitting comments to the docket.
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About Advocates
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.