One of the worst aspects of seeing your family torn apart by a drunk driver, Brenda Simmons said, is knowing it could have been avoided with political will and the right application of technology.
“If someone lacked decency or lacked the capacity to make decisions [and they] I still decided to get behind the wheel, if that vehicle hadn’t started because of some mandatory technology, my son would still be here,” she told CBC News.
A law requiring automakers to include disability-prevention technology in all new cars starting in 2026 was part of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that US President Joe Biden signed into law in the fall of 2021
Simons is one of many drunk driving victims who support this legislation and the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) campaign to get the federal government to pass similar legislation in Canada.
“If it’s going to be done in the U.S. and we have such an integrated automotive system, then I just don’t see why we shouldn’t go and do everything we can in Canada to have that location,” Simmons said.
In June 2020, Simmons’ son Jacob was on an afternoon bike ride in Belfast PEI when he was killed by a drunk driver. The vehicle hit the 200-pound man so hard that he landed more than 200 feet from where he was hit.
Jacob’s father, Kevin, was being treated for cancer at the time. Simmons said he was responding well before the stress of losing his only son sent him into a downward spiral; he died six weeks later.
“It’s just been a complete devastation to our family,” she said. “It was accidental and it could have happened to anyone.”
Jacob and Kevin Simmons in Galway, Ireland, in August 2019. Kevin died of pancreatic cancer six weeks after Jacob’s murder. (Submitted by Brenda Simmons)
The US measures are part of a package of road safety improvements that also include requiring all new passenger motor vehicles in the US to be equipped with advanced crash avoidance technology.
The industry is exploring which technologies to use. After the US Department of Transportation examines the options and selects their preferred technology, automakers will have time to comply with the new requirements.
In the US, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety — which represents automakers — and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are working together to explore technologies that could be used.
Both groups are part of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, or DADSS, a research program that offers two unique technologies.
The first is a dragger fixed to the steering wheel that can test the driver’s blood alcohol level while exhaling normally. The second is a skin-based test that requires the driver to place their finger on a sensor.
“Nothing like this happens quickly”
MADD Canada National President Jamie-Lyne Hancock met virtually with Transport Minister Omar Algabra in November to discuss the initiative. She said the minister listened and took the proposal seriously.
“We will continue to lobby for this. Nothing like this happens quickly,” she said. “I just hope that we can keep this message top of mind going forward so that we can implement this as quickly as possible.”
Hancock lost his 18-year-old brother in 2014 when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver on his way home from hockey practice in Sudbury, Ont.
“I think this technology really has … the power to save countless lives,” she said. “As a victim, this can’t come fast enough.”
In Canada, anyone convicted of drunk driving can be forced to install a breathalyzer ignition interlock device in their car. This device requires the driver to provide a sample of their breath before starting their car and to undergo additional tests while driving.
Dean “DJ” Hancock was 18 when he was killed by a drunk driver in Sudbury. “Our family will never be complete again,” his mother Kim wrote on Facebook. “I miss the sound of your voice. I miss your bright smiling face every second… You will be in our hearts forever.” (Sent)
Hancock said these devices are large and cumbersome, and more advanced integrated technology is needed.
Alghabra’s office told CBC News that Transport Canada is part of the DADSS research initiative.
In a statement to the media, Alghabra’s office said that while installed blocking devices vary from country to country, the federal government has a national voluntary standard that sets out how they should work. Alghabra’s office also said it was open to exploring the potential of this technology.
U.S. law does not cover testing for cannabis, and MADD Canada says the technology is not advanced enough to include the impairment of cannabis in its proposal for updated road safety in Canada.
“Transport Canada may consider regulatory initiatives regarding impaired driving technology in the future as the technology matures,” the department said in a statement.
“Following a regulatory mandate for new vehicles, it will take several years before most vehicles on the road will be equipped with such a device.”
NDP MP Brian Masse said his party would support mandatory enhanced fault detection devices in Canadian vehicles — not only in the interest of safety, but also because the integrated nature of the North American auto industry makes standing alone challenging.
“It’s really important in terms of taking public safety and bringing it to the fore,” Masse said. “The fact is that our auto markets are integrated for many reasons, from a public safety perspective, and if they’re moving that way, we have a responsibility to look at it ourselves.”
The Conservatives did not respond to requests for comment from CBC News.
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