Mandatory driver impairment sensors clear a funding hurdle, but are they ready?A federal law requires new cars to include technology that detects drunk or impaired driving, but regulators still have not cleared itByJEFF MCMURRAY Associated PressFebruary 14, 2026, 12:01 AMA federal law requiring impairment-detection devices inside all new cars survived a recent push to strip its funding but remains stalled by questions about whether the technology is ready. Rana Abbas Taylor lost her sister, brother-in-law, nephew and two nieces when a driver with a blood-alcohol level almost four times the legal limit slammed into their car in January 2019 as the Michigan family drove through Lexington, Kentucky, on the way home from a Florida vacation. The tragedy turned Abbas Taylor into an outspoken advocate for stopping the more than 10,000 alcohol-related deaths each year on U. S. roads.
