1. Technical Field
The embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein generally relate to a system and method for alcohol monitor based on driver status.
2. Background Art
With conventional automotive vehicles, one or more keys are often shared between any number of drivers (e.g., parent/teen, employer/employee, owner/valet driver, or fleet vehicle owner/fleet vehicle driver). In one example, the parents of a teenager (or young adult) that is old enough to drive may provide the keys of the vehicle to the teenager. The vehicle may be equipped with various safety and/or driver notification features that may be enabled/disabled via a user interface based on the driver's needs. However, in some circumstances, the parent may not intend to have the various safety and notification related features disabled by the teenager. The parent may enable the safety and notification features prior to allowing the teenager to drive the vehicle, however there is no guarantee that the teenager may keep the safety and notification features enabled while driving the vehicle. Conventional vehicles fail to give parents, or other primary drivers, the option of preventing teenagers that are eligible to drive or other such secondary drivers from disabling safety and notification features.
Alcohol usage and subsequent operation of a vehicle is recognized as a risky behavior and poses serious safety concerns not only for the driver and other occupants in the vehicle, but for the public as a whole. Vehicle fatalities for teens that operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol are alarming. For example, vehicle fatalities for 16 year old drivers that had a blood alcohol level greater than 0.08% were that of roughly 13%. Vehicle fatalities for drivers between the age group of 17 to 19 years of age increase to 25%. It is also recognized that alcohol consumption is known to exist for employees who operate vehicles owned by various employers.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds