New Volvo safety tech won't let you drink and drive

Volvo has announced it will introduce pioneering new driver monitoring technology that will not allow you to drive your own car if it detects you've been drinking or under the influence of drugs.

Set to become standard on all Volvos from 'early 2020s', the new driver monitoring technology uses cameras that monitor driver engagement, concentrations and distractions.

The move to introduce the advanced new safety kit follows on from the announcement that Volvo would introduce a self-imposed 180km/h speed limiter on all its cars by 2020.

Introducing both the speed limiter and the drug and alcohol-detecting cameras is all part of a move to fulfil Volvo's aim of zero traffic fatalities in a Volvo-branded vehicle.

Currently, research suggests that in the US alone almost 30 per cent of all traffic deaths in vehicles in 2017 were caused by accidents involving drivers who were under the influence.

The new camera tech is thought to immobilise the vehicle if it thinks you're drunk or on drugs and intervene if it thinks you're driving distracted or, worse, asleep.

It detects intoxication by using the cameras to look at the driver's eyes while the car's own telematics analyse driving behaviour like excessive weaving and slow reactions consistent with a drunk driver.

If the driver doesn't wake up or respond to warning signals, in the future Volvo could rely on autonomous driving aids to take control of the vehicle and drive the car to safety.

Worse still, if you're fast asleep, Volvo says your own car might call Volvo On Call assistance to help decide what course of action should be taken.

This could, theoretically, involve a call to the cops for your own safety if you don't wake up and take control of your car.

According to Volvo, vehicles based on the SPA platform with get the new safety tech first in the early 2020s but a specific date hasn't been given when exactly vehicles like the XC90 will be available with the advanced driver monitoring aids.

Nor is it known when small vehicles on the CMA underpinnings will benefit from the new tech or if Volvo's pure-electric premium brand Polestar will also be rolled out with the drink driving cameras.

As well as driver monitoring, Volvo has confirmed it will also introduce what it calls a 'Care Key'.

The special tech allows its cars to be driven and used normally but with a lower speed limiter. The introduction of the new key has been developed for younger drivers or valet drivers in the US market to reduce the risk of a high speed-related accident.