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An innovative application called “ENDUI” has been funded by the state of Maryland in an attempt to stop people who have been drinking from getting behind the wheel of a car. Funding for the application came from the Federal government and according to Kara Macek, spokeswoman for the Governor’s Highway Safety Association with so many people spending time on phones this application should have a positive impact on drunk drivers.
Macek also believes that there is anticipation that the application will reach beyond the state of Maryland. This new application was developed by the Maryland Highway Safety Office for a cost of around $50,000.
With this application downloaded to a cell phone, people will be notified is they have had too much to drink through a series of games. To help inebriated drivers make it home safe, a database of taxis along with GPS are used.
In order for the ENDUI application to check a person’s blood alcohol level, information is set to include height, weight, gender, and even the type and number of drinks consumed. For accurate results, there are two interactive games associated with the application used to check cognitive ability and response time.
Based on this information coupled with pre-loaded numbers for taxis and GPS technology, an individual who has had too much to drink can simply call for a cab opposed to driving.
One of the application’s games actually mimics real situations when driving. For instance, a person would press on a red brake button if in the game a pedestrian passes in front of the vehicle or another car ahead of the driver stops. With the reaction time measured, that person would know if they should or should not be driving.
Another game with the ENDUI application allows an individual to recall the specific order of nine road sign blinks, which becomes more and more difficult with each round. Both games are designed to eliminate guesswork when it comes to drinking and driving. Instead of someone “thinking” they are okay to be behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, the games confirm.
There is also a warning as part of the application that if an individual chooses to disregard the results of the games impairment is likely and driving while intoxicated is illegal.
In addition to Maryland, there are other states who have now taken similar steps to prevent drinking and driving. While slightly different, applications somewhat like ENDUI are available for drivers in the states of New Mexico, California, Colorado, and New York.
