Publications
Partners
The system can detect the alcohol level on a driver's breath and disable the ignition if it exceeds a certain limit.
Nissan will conduct tests in cooperation with local authorities in several locations around Japan, which has strict laws against drinking alcohol before driving.
The carmaker said the tests were still at an early stage and there were no firm plans yet to launch the technology.
"It's probably going to require a lot of legislative support or a government push for making it a requirement, or it could be available as an option," said Nissan spokesperson Pauline Kee.
"Obviously we can install it on our vehicles but you also need to think about whether or not customers want such a device," she said.
Nissan aims to halve the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving its vehicles by 2015 compared with two decades earlier.
Rival Toyota is reportedly researching a system of sensors on a car's steering wheel to measure the alcohol level in a driver's sweat, while mobile telephone operators have developed a combined breathalyser and telephone.
