(Bloomberg) — Putting technology that prevents drunk driversfrom starting a vehicle into every car and truck in the U.S. couldsave 59,000 lives and $343 million over 15 years, according to aUniversity of Michigan study.

U-M's Injury Center and Transportation Research Institute saidin the study, released Thursday, that cost savings from widespreaduse of ignition interlock technology could outweigh the expense ofthe devices after three years.

"The sheer numbers of preventable fatalities and seriousinjuries were surprising," Patrick Carter, an assistant professorin emergency medicine at U-M Medical School and the lead author ofthe study, said in a statement. "Our analysis clearly demonstratesthe significant public health benefit and societal cost savings"with making the devices standard equipment in all new vehicles.

Current ignition interlock technology prevents a vehicle frombeing started if a driver's breath registers a certain amount ofalcohol. The devices have been around since the 1960s, and inrecent years some states have mandated their use for convicteddrunk drivers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported thatin 2013, the most recent data available, 10,076 people died incrashes related to drunk driving, a 23% decline from a decadeearlier.

Government-Industry Effort

The U.S. agency and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety,a group that includes all major automakers, in 2008 formed theDriver Alcohol Detection System for Safety to develop "afirst-of-its-kind technology" to detect and prevent intoxicateddrivers.

The technology would be a "seamless" part of the driverexperience, using biometric readings via fingerprint or infraredbreath analysis.

"The goal is to develop a system that can accurately andreliably detect when a driver is above the legal alcohol limit andthat could be offered as original equipment in new cars on avoluntary, market-driven basis," Gordon Trowbridge, a NHTSAspokesman, said in a statement.

"It's too early to predict" when the joint effort's technologywill be available, he said. The research phase is expected tocontinue through 2018.

The current devices are available only as after-marketequipment.

"Automakers will have to be convinced, and make sure that thecosts of the technology are something that consumers are willing topay for and they want," said Adrian Lund, president of theInsurance Institute of Highway Safety.