Virginia DMV Partners With Schneider On In-Vehicle Alcohol Detection Technology

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is partnering with the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and Schneider on a trial deployment of new technology in truck cabs developed through the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety Program.

Since 2018, the Driven to Protect Initiative, a public-private partnership between the Virginia DMV and the DADSS Program, has been helping to test in-vehicle alcohol detection technology that will determine if a driver is impaired with a blood alcohol concentration at or above the applicable legal limit in the state and prevent the vehicle from moving.

Schneider is the first truckload carrier to work with the DADSS Program, with the goal of widespread deployment of the in-vehicle alcohol detection technology.

As part of the new trial deployment, Schneider will outfit eight of its truck cabs with the breath sensors in 2022, logging more than 100,000 sensor miles for each vehicle outfitted, for a collective total of almost 1 million miles. One of the goals of the pilot program is to refine the technology by increasing the stress that the system is put under on the road.

“The progress we have made since 2018 has advanced this game-changing anti-drunk driving technology, and I am excited to see how this new deployment will bring the technology one step closer to saving countless lives on our roadways,” Virginia DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb said in a statement Wednesday.

The applicable legal alcohol limit for operators of commercial motor vehicles is 0.04 percent. The applicable limit for operators of privately owned light cars and trucks is 0.08 percent.

The effort with Schneider builds upon the Virginia DMV’s ongoing partnership with Virginia-based James River Transportation through the Driven to Protect Initiative, which was the first time the breath sensors were tested as part of in-vehicle, on-road test trials involving light passenger vehicles.

According to a 2020 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, when widely deployed in all vehicles, such an alcohol detection system could help eliminate the number one cause of fatalities on U.S. roadways and save more than 9,000 lives each year. Last year, Virginia reported 6,624 alcohol-related crashes, 272 alcohol-related deaths and 3,386 alcohol-related injuries on its roadways.

“With Virginia’s support, the DADSS technology has gone from an early prototype to a viable safety feature for all vehicles in the future, much like seat belts and airbags,” said Rob Strassburger, president and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.