Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Technology auto lock down: Just add alcohol

Do you like to drink heavily? Do you have absolutely no self-control when it comes to refraining from getting behind the wheel of your vehicle when you’re schnockered? If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, Nissan’s new concept car may be for you. Check out the article on News.com: “Nissan gets testy with drunk drivers.”

Here’s a little snippet from the article:

Nissan is testing alcohol-detection sensors that check odor, sweat, and driver awareness, issue a voice alert from the navigation system, and lock up the ignition if necessary.

Odor sensors on the driver and passenger seats read alcohol levels, while a detector in the gear-shift knob measures the perspiration of the driver’s palm when starting the car.

Nissan’s car also includes a mounted camera that monitors alertness by eye scan, ringing bells, and issuing a voice message that a driver should pull over and rest.

Seriously, if you are concerned enough to purchase this car (that is, for the specific purpose of not driving drunk), maybe you should look into putting those hard-earned dollars down for treatment.

Personally, I’ll wait until someone develops a car that drives itself - just type in the destination and then pass out in the back seat. Perfect!

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