I’ve been thinking about something for a few days, ever since I read that story about FitBit in the USA Today article and also the one about fatigued drivers. One thing that has never been mentioned is monitoring drunk driving by anyone talking about the Mycadian watch and software. If the watch can detect fatigue and drowsiness, it almost certainly can detect if a person is impaired by alcohol and shouldn’t be driving. I did a little research about impaired driving. The statistics are staggering. For instance, in 2014, 1.1 million drivers were arrested for drunk driving. Just think of the number that were on the road that weren’t arrested. What if the law required everyone convicted of drunk driving to wear the Mycadian watch as a way to monitor their behavior after the arrest? That’s not such a stretch. All 50 states right now require a convicted drunk driver to install, at their own expense, an ignition interlock system. It’s a breathalyzer system that won’t allow the car to be started if the driver’s blood alcohol content is above the legal limit. I’m wondering if the watch could be configured to perform the same ignition function as the current equipment. If that’s not possible, an alert could be sent to law enforcement that an impaired driver is on the road and their exact location determined by the GPS function. I’m thinking the DMV can unilaterally impose the use of the watch in the same way they require the ignition interlock system, without the need of approval from any representative groups. Anyone have any thought about this concept?
