The devices that avoid Breathalyzers or any action on the part of the driver hold much promise, DUI experts say. A New Mexico company, TruTouch Technologies Inc., has developed a touch-based alcohol-monitoring technology that measures alcohol harmlessly through the skin using infrared spectroscopy. (The idea grew from similar technology that is used to measure glucose levels in people with diabetes.) A touchpad could be placed on a steering wheel or keychain that would measure the driver's alcohol level and transmit the information to the ignition system, says Jim McNally, founder and chief executive of TruTouch.

The device also allows for an analysis of individual tissue chemistry that ensures that the person being monitored is actually the person designated to drive the car, McNally adds. One problem with Breathalyzers is that a passenger or someone else can blow into the device to start a car.

The company hopes to market an automobile device within three to five years.

Another through-the-skin, or transdermal, approach under study would measure alcohol in sweat secreted from the skin. Such technology is already used in a device called a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, or SCRAM — an ankle bracelet that can continuously monitor alcohol intake. The device is sometimes ordered by judges for people convicted of alcohol-related crimes, including DUI, and is being used in a small pilot study in Riverside County to monitor several convicted DUI offenders as a condition of their probation.

Other options under study are devices that would track involuntary eye movements, such as nystagmus — a jerkiness of the eye that is related to alcohol use and drowsiness.

The challenge, says Ferguson, is to refine the technology so that it's completely reliable, quick and convenient. "This has to be something that doesn't have you going through hoops to get your car started," she says. "You can imagine the soccer mom stopping here and there," she says. "You don't want that person blowing into a device. No one would want that."

Whether the public will accept such technology for all drivers, not just ones with drunk-driving track records, is unclear.

"Any technology in a car of the future has to be low-cost, invisible to the sober driver and set at the legal limit," says William Georges, senior vice president of the Century Council, a nonprofit organization funded by distilled spirits companies to address underage drinking and drunk driving . "If I go out to dinner and have a glass of wine, I need to be able to start my car."

The Century Council has joined MADD in support of its new campaign, Georges adds. The group endorses use of current interlock technology for "hard-core drunk drivers."

Hurley says MADD aims to work closely with law enforcement groups, automakers and the alcoholic beverage industry to bring their goals to fruition.

"We are hopeful that new cars can be offered in 10 years that would not be operational at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or above," he says. "There is consensus in the automobile safety community that the technology can be ready in about 10 years. Cars are getting smarter every day. Cars can even park themselves now."

Printed Dec 18, 2006 Los Angeles Times