A former government chief drugs adviser has suggested that there should be alcohol sensors in every car.
But the call by Professor David Nutt was described today as "impractical" by the AA.
Under his proposal, all drivers would have to breathe into a device and be within the legal drink-drive limit before their car would start.
Professor Nutt is president of the British Neuroscience Association and a professor at Imperial College, London.
The alcohol sensors plan is one of seven ways he suggests to reduce the harm caused by alcohol in his new book, Drugs - Without The Hot Air.
Other suggestions include shorter licensing hours, compelling pubs and supermarkets to sell non-alcoholic lagers and beers alongside alcoholic drinks, and devising less dangerous alternatives such as drinks which give people a moderate "buzz".
Professor Nutt believes his plan would save lives, despite being branded 'impractical
Prof Nutt told the BBC that some countries use the in-car breath-testers, known as alcohol ignition interlock devices, to ensure that people convicted of drink-driving do not take to the wheel, but he had an even more "radical" idea.
He said: "You could potentially have it so that was true of all cars - everybody would have to breathe in (to the device) before they were able to drive away.
"You hear about terrible accidents when four or five young people die simultaneously in the one car because the driver's been drunk. It could save a lot of lives."
Commenting on the proposal today, AA president Edmund King said: "There is a voluntary scheme of 'alcolocks' at the moment but I don't think Prof Nutt's plan is practical.
"Our message is that no one who drives should drink. If that message gets across and the police target drink-drivers and breathalyse more people, then you don't need new devices.
"In France, drivers have to carry a breathalyser in the car. The problem here is that you could be under the legal drink-drive limit when you set off and then over the limit half an hour later, as it takes time for alcohol to get into the bloodstream."
Professor Nutt also claimed that the UK's misuse of drugs act needs to be changed so that the law better reflects their potential harm and called for a new approach that would allow some drugs such as cannabis and MDMA to be made available for medical and research purposes.
Talking to The Guardian, he said regulations were making it impossible to research such drugs, commenting: "The effect these laws have had on research is greater than the effects that [George] Bush stopping stem cell research has had because it's been going on since the 1960s."
Professor Nutt's concern is that there may have been many missed opportunities in the field of research because when a drug is declared illegal, it is "virtually impossible to work with.
He insisted he was not espousing legalisation but regulation where the provision of drugs could be tightly controlled.