Worldwide leader in automotive safety, Autoliv, has announced it is developing an alcohol breath sensor to operate automatically when a driver gets into a vehicle.

The Swedish company who specialise in both seat belts and airbags, with links to Australia, made the announcement at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Monte Carlo.

Automotive News reports that Autoliv chief executive officer Jan Carlson said the company was already testing the new device that will supersede current breathalysers that require drivers to blow into a tube to deactivate a vehicle’s immobiliser. “It should be seamless. You should not notice the car has an alcohol detection device in it,” Carlson said.

While the final device is still an expected five years away Carlson predicts a significant uptake saying, “Everyone will be interested in it, particularly if it is affordable.”

“If you look at the numbers, 30 percent of all fatalities are coming from driving under the influence. When you talk to parents with teenage daughters and sons they would love to have this device in the vehicle.”

The device is in step with the company’s shift away from passive safety systems such as seatbelts and airbags and towards an expansion of active safety systems like its Night Vision technology employed by BMW and Audi, the third generation of which is due to be released later this year.