Magna’s new safety tech detects if drivers are ‘fit to drive’

At CES 2024, held earlier this month in Las Vegas, leading mobility technology company Magna introduced a breath and camera-based pre-development technology designed to combat impaired driving. The cutting-edge solution represents a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to enhance road safety.

The new safety technology determines if drivers are ‘fit to drive’ in a fast, reliable and affordable way. The integrated solution combines key elements of the interior sensing system, which utilizes camera technology to detect driver distraction, drowsiness and intoxication through pupillary signals, with infrared sensor technology developed by Senseair, a leader in air and gas sensing.

Cockpit-embedded sensors, placed in proximity to the driver, measure and quantify the alcohol and carbon dioxide levels in diluted exhalations from the driver. The technology is intended to passively detect an intoxicated driver with a blood alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit of 0.08 percent in all states except Utah, where the legal limit is 0.05 percent.

“As we continue to support the company’s vision of advancing mobility for everyone, our team is focused on delivering active safety innovations that help reduce accidents and fatalities,” said Bill Snider, President of Electronics at Magna. “We are working with our customers and the industry to take a significant step forward in making the roads safer for all who share them.”

Drunk driving claimed more than 13,000 lives in 2021 or about one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Magna’s new solution focuses on alcohol detection, the most common substance associated with impaired driving crashes.