(Radio Iowa) – Researchers at the University of Iowa are looking for help testing out developing technology that’s designed to determine whether a driver should be behind the wheel. Tim Brown, director of drugged driving research at the U-I’s Driving Safety Research Institute, says study participants will be paid to drink enough alcohol to be over the legal limit, and then they’ll hop into a driving simulator. “What we’re looking at is a combination of vehicle sensors, so sensors on the steering wheel and the pedals, looking at your lane position,” Brown says, “but more importantly, newer technology that looks at the driver’s face and is able to look at expression and glance behavior, all of those things that might provide an outward sign of the driver’s state.”

There are already multiple devices that are designed to keep a vehicle from starting if the would-be driver has been drinking. Brown says they’re looking to develop systems that go well beyond those which could potentially be placed in all new vehicles.

Photos from the UI’s Driving Safety Research Institute

“Ignition interlocks are often a system that is designed to deal with people who’ve already been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol,” Brown says. “These driver monitoring systems are really geared towards providing a safety net to prevent impaired driving. This is technology that would be in the vehicle and would provide warnings to the driver.” A federal study in 2023 found more than 12-thousand people were killed in crashes nationwide that involved alcohol. That’s about 34 people killed every day, or one death every 42 minutes.

Brown is confident these emerging technologies in driver monitoring systems will be able to save lives. “Right now, we think about them primarily in the context of somebody who’s distracted or drowsy, so letting a drowsy driver know they might need to stop and take a break, or somebody who’s distracted to put their attention back on the roadway,” Brown says. “They’re really systems that are designed to alert the driver to conditions they might be unaware of so they can take corrective action.” The study pays $820 and participants will need to make four visits to the U-I’s Driving Safety Research Institute in Coralville: one 2-hour screening visit, two 8-hour daytime visits, and one 8-hour overnight visit. They need to be between 38 and 68, in good health, legally licensed to drive in the U-S, and willing to drink enough alcohol to be above the legal limit.

For more information, fill out the survey at bit.ly/Alcohol-DMS or visit dsri.uiowa.edu and click on “Participate.”