Hand-held device detects impaired drivers

OK, we've got the test. Now all we need is to have folks yapping away on their cel. phones as they fail the test. Drive Now, Drivel Later ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:23:56 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> Subject: Hand-held device detects impaired drivers User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i FYI: http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99994394 Hand-held device detects impaired drivers 19:00 19 November 03 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. A hand-held device designed to identify drivers impaired by drugs, alcohol or excessive tiredness, is being evaluated by the British police. The device is intended to deliver a quick yes or no verdict on whether a person is in a fit state to drive and works by assessing the driver's behaviour, rather than testing for particular substances. It is the first of its kind to be tested by police anywhere in the world. The "impairment detector" is still in the early stages of development, but the Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is studying results from a prototype to decide whether to take the project further. If it gets the go-ahead, at least two years of testing will be needed before the detector is ready for the streets. "Early results are very promising," says Julia Boyle of the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK, who is leading the research on behalf of the PSDB and who revealed the results last week at a conference at Cranfield University. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *