Houston, Texas (KTRK) – Whenever Rosalyn Papers sits down and talks about her 20-year-old daughter, LaQuinta Husley, her eyes fill with tears. Hosley was killed after being hit by a drunk driver in December 2021.
“It’s devastating,” Babers said. “I stayed praying.” “She didn’t have a chance in life. She was just beginning her life. She couldn’t live her life.”
RELATED: NTSB wants to design new vehicles to detect and stop drunk drivers
In recent events, the National Transportation Safety Board has decided to issue a blanket recommendation that could limit drunk driving. They suggest that all-new cars should have built-in technology for alcohol impairment detection.
The NTSB cites the DWI incident in California in which nine people, including seven children, were killed, as a catalyst for the recommendation.
However, the recommendation was met with mixed reactions at best. It’s no secret that drunk driving claims lives daily across the country, but can technology be used to reduce the number of cases?
Critics of the proposal say the issue is not whether driving under the influence is a bad thing. Everyone agrees. It is whether having a device in your car, for everyone, satisfies the legal purpose.
“I think it’s a violation of your privacy. I think it’s unconstitutional,” said Tyler Flood, an attorney who specializes in DWI defense.
“The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is basically a search for your breath whenever you get in your car.”
Besides legal hurdles, Flood says the technology isn’t accurate enough to accurately measure who’s too weak to drive.
WATCH: ‘Driving under the influence must stop’: Family demands change after losing loved ones in golf cart accident
“I see a real problem with this kind of technology because it doesn’t protect against things like using marijuana or if you’re misusing prescription medications. It only protects against alcohol,” Flood said.
Babers, for its part, is also skeptical, albeit for many different reasons. She says people will find ways to cheat the system, even if spirometry technology is required.
“If they can come up with a great idea to stop the car from starting even when they’re drunk, then yes. I support it all,” said the grieving mother.
“But, thinking about it. What they’re trying to do, they can still get away with it somehow.”
In a statement, the NTSB described repeated alcohol driving in detail.
“Driving under the influence continues to be a leading cause of highway-related injury accidents. Since 2000, more than 230,000 people have lost their lives in accidents involving drivers with alcoholism, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And there have been 11,654 deaths in crashes. Collided with alcohol.”
According to the agency, the data represented about 30% of traffic deaths in 2020 and a 14% increase from the 10,196 people who died from accidents due to alcoholism in 2019.
The NTSB does not have the authority to enact the law, so it is unclear whether this recommendation will ever become a reality.
The only reliable way to save lives, Babers says, is not to drink and drive.
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