In-car breathalyzers are becoming an increasingly common way to try and prevent repeat impaired drivers from re-offending. But if you’ve ever experienced one of the aftermarket devices currently in use, you’ll know that they’re not exactly up to the seamless experience you’d expect from a modern car. In a new patent uncovered by the CarBuzz researchers, Hyundai is looking to change that.
This idea could take a big bite out of drunk driving, but it could also raise major concerns over privacy and personal freedoms.
Hyundai Wants To Build A Better Breathalyzer
Hyundai Steering Wheel PatentHyundai
In the patent, Hyundai describes some of the current problems with in-car alcohol detection. Some of those concerns are tough to empathize with, like it “detracting from the aesthetics in the vehicle,” but others include contamination from being in the car and that it’s easy to tamper with an add-on device.
So Hyundai wants to build impaired driving detection into the car. Where it would be more effective and, well, prettier.
The system would be built into the steering wheel. Hyundai’s patent drawings show a flap built into the lower spoke of the wheel that can open and close to let breath flow in when it needs to but protect the system when it’s not in use.
A fan would help pull the air through, and direct the air to an alcohol sensor, an air outlet, and to a drain that would let the moisture from your breath vent and (hopefully) help prevent buildup and mold.
The detection part is typical. A sensor measures breath alcohol and if you’re over the set limit, the car won’t start. But then things start to get tricky.
Would You Buy A Car Constantly Monitoring For DUI?
2026 Hyundai Sante Fe SEL. Cabin. InteriorHyundai
Hyundai’s patent suggests that the vehicle would monitor your driving for what it calls “a driving pattern of the vehicle that is predetermined to be a careless driving pattern.” If it detects that pattern, it could demand another breath sample. If you’ve driven a modern Hyundai and experienced how sensitive and frequent its drowsy driving alerts are, you know it could be asking for breath almost constantly on a windy day or a twisty road.
The vehicle would also watch your face. If it detects a change in the face behind the wheel, it could demand a new test or refuse to accept a test. That’s a way to prevent drivers from having a passenger lean over to do the test. Or, because we’ve all heard the stories, to stop an impaired driver having their pet dog blow into the tube. No, we don’t think that actually happens, but it’s always good for a laugh.
Because it’s built into the vehicle, it should be more reliable than an add-on system. It should also be more tamper-resistant and, for mechanics, much easier to work on the vehicle than current systems. Especially since a test doesn’t require the driver to put their mouth on any part of the car.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Stock Photo of Opening a Beer in front of an Audi Steering WheelEnergepic/Pexels
The idea of a built-in alcohol detection system leads to the possibility of such systems being mandatory in all vehicles. That’s a question for safety and privacy experts and teams of lawyers to confront, though, not us.
If courts are going to continue to assign breath detection devices to convicted impaired drivers, though, having a better system is a good thing. Though positioning Hyundai as the official car of your third DWI seems like a tough sell for the marketing department.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
