BMW May Finally Do What Auto Industry Has Needed For Decades

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BMW has filed a patent that could be a huge deal. Though, it would need to be implemented, and it would also need consumer buy-in.

Here’s a shocking statistic for you: Approximately 30% of deaths caused by traffic accidents in the US each year involve drunk drivers. That was 12,429 deaths in 2023. Fines, prison time, PSA campaigns … nothing has done away with this problem. However, BMW may have a solution. (I’m not very confident on this, for reasons I’ll explain in a minute, but it should help to some degree if implemented.)

BMW has filed an international patent focused on identifying if a person has had too much to drink and shouldn’t be driving, and then won’t let them drive if that’s the case. What the patent describes is a breathalyzer linked to a digital key (smartphone/smart watch, like Tesla drivers use), and if the driver doesn’t pass the breathalyzer test, the car will let them operate the AC/heating and infotainment but not drive.

I don’t know a lot about the problem, but I imagine a lot of drunk drivers think they’ve “just had a drink or two” and are fine to drive, while others are well aware they shouldn’t be driving but do anyway. In either case, though, how willingly will people buy a product that is going to limit their ability to drive? Would this actually sell? Also, would there be ways around it — could the driver make their kid blow into the breathalyzer or find out another way to cheat the system? I guess even if that was the case, though, it would still limit some of the drunk drivers on the road. I still just have a hard time believing a lot of BMW buyers will want to include this in their car. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.

There’s one other matter that’s been brought up — data privacy concerns. Could BMW sell data on this to insurance companies or other third parties.

I don’t know. What do you think — could this make a big difference and save a lot of lives? Well, even if it only saved one life, it would be worth it, so I’m in support of the idea. I’m just concerned people who need it would avoid adopting it.