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Drunk Driving Eliminated in Our Lifetime


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ALBUQUERQUE, NM - July 29, 2009: The day is coming when drivers who are legally intoxicated may not be able to drive their vehicles. Recent technological advances make it possible to measure a driver’s intoxication level by analyzing light reflected from his or her skin, and governments are now working with the global automotive industry to adapt this technology for use in cars.

According to the World Health Organization, 576,000 people die each year as a result of injuries sustained under the influence of alcohol.

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The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, ACTS, hopes to eliminate a large portion of those deaths by facilitating the development and adoption of technologies capable of preventing alcohol-impaired driving. Under the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program, ACTS has teamed up with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and a Blue Ribbon Panel representing the Who’s Who in the global automotive industry to turn this lifesaving idea into standard practice.

“Implemented properly, advanced intoxication detection systems have the potential to save far more lives than airbags and to prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries every year,” says Chuck Hurley, CEO of MADD. “Getting effective intoxication detection systems into production automobiles should be the key strategy that will end drunk driving. It’s highly conceivable that in 10 years cars will have such sensors and they will stop drunk driving altogether.”

To become widely implemented, intoxication safety systems need to be as user-friendly as other automotive safety systems. TruTouch Technologies’ light-based systems have that potential, as they are truly a touch-and-go technology.

ACTS selected TruTouch Technologies’ light-based system for funding following an extensive engineering review of existing and emerging technologies. TruTouch Technologies, Inc. will receive $395,000 in development funding from the DADSS program for the first phase of this project, and if all goes according to plan can expect millions more from subsequent phases, leading to a prototype vehicle in 2012.

“Too many lives have been devastated by impaired drivers. We need to attack this problem from every angle, including advancing technology like TruTouch,” U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman said. “TruTouch holds great promise, which is why the federal government is investing in this New Mexico company.”

“Using technology to save lives and save money is our business,” says TruTouch Technologies President and CEO Dr. Richard D. Gill. “As a husband and a father, I am concerned that 1 of every 140 miles driven in the United States is driven by a drunk driver. As a President and CEO, I take pride and comfort in knowing that because of what we’re doing here today my children and your children are less likely to have to face that risk or suffer the consequences.”

TruTouch’s noninvasive alcohol measurement systems are currently available and being used across the country everywhere from drug courts and work release programs to safety-sensitive worksites and the military. More information on TruTouch’s technology and a link to the DADSS program is available at www.trutouchtech.com.

TruTouch Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells patented noninvasive alcohol testing systems into both existing and emerging alcohol testing markets. Inspired by the potential to place its passive, durable systems virtually anywhere, TruTouch’s vision is to create a world where intoxication is routinely intercepted before it does harm.

If you would like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Dr. Richard D. Gill, please call Tim Tigner at 505-604-9753, or e-mail Tim at tim.tigner@trutouchtech.com.