The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seems to think what’s good for convicted drunk drivers would ultimately help the rest of the sober-driving public.

Updating technology originally conceived in 2008, researchers at NHTSA have visions of installing monitors that can check blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) levels through people’s breath and fingerprints. The additions come on the heels of a nearly four-decade-long decline in drunk driving fatalities. Annual costs, however, still total roughly $60 billion, making it one of the costliest public health threats in the U.S.

The paternally named Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) has hopes of slowing those destructive trends. Installed in two components, the technology assesses how much alcohol is in the person’s blood. The first method involves a carbon dioxide intake system located in the steering column or driver’s-side door. It uses infrared beams to analyze the ratio of carbon molecules to alcohol.

The second relies on a push-button sensor in the ignition or gearshift, which shines a light on the driver’s tissue with a technique called near infrared tissue spectroscopy. Since alcohol — ethanol — absorbs certain wavelengths of light, the sensor can determine how much alcohol is in the driver’s system. If either of the methods detects a BAC at or above the legal limit of 0.08, the car won’t start. They can also be programmed for drivers under to carry zero-tolerance setting.

The team working on the project forecasts production will begin within the next five years. Of course, by then self-driving cars may have stepped into the mainstream, in which case society will have a whole other set of ethical challenges to wrestle with.