Wednesday, January 03, 2007
San Diego drunk drivers can soon let a cellphone check to see if too drunk to drive
Too drunk to drive? Let a cellphone make the call
Tokyo, Japan - Japanese drivers concerned about whether they've had too much to drink can now find out - from their cellphones.
Service provider KDDI has helped develop a combined breathalyser and cellphone – called the Alc-Mobile - that will let bus and taxi companies know if their drivers can safely take the wheel.
When a driver blows into a tube on the phone it measures his or her level of intoxication and immediately sends the results to the employer's computer via the phone.
The phone also transmits a snapshot of the driver's face and his location, using the satellite-based global positioning system
When a driver blows into a tube on the phone it measures his or her level of intoxication
.
An alarm will be triggered on the employer's computer if the driver is inebriated.
KDDI says sales of the Alc-Mobile shot up following a nationwide campaign against drunk driving after a drunk driver killed three children in the south-western city of Fukuoka.
KDDI's Takeshi Ariizumi engineered the product with Tokai Electric.
"Up to now devices to measure intoxication were placed at taxi and bus stations," he said. "Companies could only see a driver's state when he left in the morning or when he returned at the end of the day."
Ariizumi said the real goal of the Alc-Mobile was to encourage people not to drive after drinking.
"It's not meant to catch drunk drivers but rather as a warning signal to prevent them from picking up a can of beer during lunchtime
The real goal of the Alc-Mobile is to encourage people not to drive after drinking
."
Four hundred ALC-Mobile sets have been sold to more than 30 companies at about ¥89 000 (R5300) each. The computer software costs another ¥58 000 (R3500).
Japan's national police agency said the country had nearly 14 000 drunk driving accidents in 2005, killing 707 people.
It plans to ask the Japanese parliament to increase the penalty for driving under the influence from three years in prison to a maximum of five and to double the fine to one million yen (R60 000).
http:/www.sandiegodui.com
Tokyo, Japan - Japanese drivers concerned about whether they've had too much to drink can now find out - from their cellphones.
Service provider KDDI has helped develop a combined breathalyser and cellphone – called the Alc-Mobile - that will let bus and taxi companies know if their drivers can safely take the wheel.
When a driver blows into a tube on the phone it measures his or her level of intoxication and immediately sends the results to the employer's computer via the phone.
The phone also transmits a snapshot of the driver's face and his location, using the satellite-based global positioning system
When a driver blows into a tube on the phone it measures his or her level of intoxication
.
An alarm will be triggered on the employer's computer if the driver is inebriated.
KDDI says sales of the Alc-Mobile shot up following a nationwide campaign against drunk driving after a drunk driver killed three children in the south-western city of Fukuoka.
KDDI's Takeshi Ariizumi engineered the product with Tokai Electric.
"Up to now devices to measure intoxication were placed at taxi and bus stations," he said. "Companies could only see a driver's state when he left in the morning or when he returned at the end of the day."
Ariizumi said the real goal of the Alc-Mobile was to encourage people not to drive after drinking.
"It's not meant to catch drunk drivers but rather as a warning signal to prevent them from picking up a can of beer during lunchtime
The real goal of the Alc-Mobile is to encourage people not to drive after drinking
."
Four hundred ALC-Mobile sets have been sold to more than 30 companies at about ¥89 000 (R5300) each. The computer software costs another ¥58 000 (R3500).
Japan's national police agency said the country had nearly 14 000 drunk driving accidents in 2005, killing 707 people.
It plans to ask the Japanese parliament to increase the penalty for driving under the influence from three years in prison to a maximum of five and to double the fine to one million yen (R60 000).
http:/www.sandiegodui.com
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 3:28 PM 
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