ArcaMax

Are they "dangerous drunks"? Or victims of a latter-day witch hunt? Also - need it be said? - technology is not infallible. Ask the people mauled by shrapnel-spewing air bags about this. Or the people charged by cops with "drunk" driving who were driving but as it turned out (many lawyer bills later) actually not "drunk." Cops are not infallible, either. Expect DADDs to err as well.

What if the driver is "designated" and imbibed nothing - but his three passengers are pickled? Will the dashboard sensors be sensitive enough to separate out the driver's exhalations from those of his soused passengers? Will he have to prove to the cops - and the insurance mafia - that he wasn't the one who'd been drinking?

How accurate are the skin-sampling spectrographic scanners? Presumably, less than 100 percent. And however many percent turns out to be the margin of error, the consequences of that will be on us - not the regulators (and "moms" over at MADD) who sicced DADDs on us. Just like killer air bags. So much for "if it saves even one life," it's worth it. Or, not.

And what about this business of treating people as presumptively guilty of things - and requiring them to prove otherwise before being allowed to go about their business. Is it not - what did they used to call it? - unAmerican? And, of course, forcing them to pay for the privilege.

DADDs is not going to be provided gratis, or via grants from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Like air bags, like back-up cameras, whatever it costs to build DADDs into every new car will be added to the sticker price - plus a certain profit margin. This is why every major automaker is on board. "Safety" can make you a lot of money. This seems to be the new American Way.

Find some thing that's (so they say) bad - something people might do. Then assume everyone does it and pass legislation requiring them to demonstrate that they're not doing it, or imposing technology to "assist" or "help" them, for "safety." And make them pay for it.

It all began with drunk driving checkpoints. Drunk driving sensors in your next new car is the logical next step. Well, one of them. There are so many things people might do; so many possibilities to preemptively act to keep them "safe." What a wonderful world they're creating.

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www.ericpetersautos.com or EPeters952@aol.com for comments.