MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), though I don’t know anyone who is in favor of drunk driving has proposed mandatory placement of ignition interlock devices on new vehicles in the U.S.

Toyota, GM and Saab already have these devices near completion for installation at the factories:

Tokyo- Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. will develop a system to stop a vehicle if it detects the driver is drunk as part of efforts to cope with a serious social problem, a report said on Wednesday.

The system, expected to become available in 2009, analyzes sweat on the palms of the driver’s hands to assess blood alcohol content and would then not allow the vehicle to be started if the reading was above safety limits, the Asahi Shimbun said. The system would also analyze the driver’s eye movement, driving performance and other factors, the Asahi said.

European automakers have developed systems that require the driver to blow into a tube attached to a vehicle to detect alcohol in the breath. Toyota opted not to use that system as it may fail if the driver asks another person to blow into the tube, the Asahi said.

Toyota rival Nissan Motor said last year it was planning similar steps.

From CBS News:

You have a few drinks, climb behind the wheel of your car, turn the key and — nothing. The engine doesn’t turn over, the car doesn’t move.

If Mothers Against Drunk Driving has its way, a device that checks a driver’s alcohol levels will be mandatory in cars owned by anyone ever convicted of drunk driving, and, eventually, every automobile.

New Mexico already has such a law.

MADD, backed by a national association of state highway officials and car manufacturers, is announcing a campaign to change drunken driving laws in the other 49 states to require such devices for first-time offenders.

“We’ll focus on that problem of separating the drunk driver from the vehicle,” MADD president Glynn Birch told CBS Radio News.

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