Breathometer Aims to Save Lives by Stopping People from Driving Drunk

This will only be used by college kids to see who can get a higher "score".

Anyone who needs this device already went too far, just don't drink before driving, that's it.

Imo, if just the bouncer at a bar had this, many drunken idiots could be kept off the roadways. Love the idea.

Imo, if just the bouncer at a bar had this, many drunken idiots could be kept off the roadways. Love the idea.

This idea is hardly unique nor new.

You can go to bed bath and beyond and pick up a 15 dollar portable breathalizer that does NOT require an iphone right now

At the risk of sounding very boring, a good rule of thumb (at least in the UK anyway) is just don't drink if you're planning on driving.

I know some people get away with it, I just don't think it's worth risking it for the sake of a couple of drinks.

A clever device and app nonetheless - good luck to it, as I suppose it could benefit many!

Too high a price for crowd funding project. I have seen stand alone units cheaper than that you can just leave in your car. This should be $10 crowd funded maybe $15.99 MRSP

Imo, if just the bouncer at a bar had this, many drunken idiots could be kept off the roadways. Love the idea.

Bouncers are not cops...

Next update: Drunk text prevention.

Huh? Open containers are illegal

I didn't say drinking WHILE driving. "Drinking and driving" is a well-understood idiom meaning "drinking prior to and sufficiently proximate to the driving event that alcohol remains detectable in the driver's blood".

I suppose it would be useful for peace of mind, especially if you were out trying some new beers or ales with unknown alcohol content.

Not everybody at 0.08 or the old standard of 0.1 is impaired to any real degree. There's some interesting YouTube videos of people testing their driving with objective standards and it really varies from person to person.

If I blew a 0.04, and 20 minutes later saw it drop to 0.03, I'd feel pretty comfortable about driving and not risking a DUI. Theoretically I can still be arrested, but the likelihood of conviction greatly decreases when the state can't prove you hit the per se limit. If it climbed to 0.05, I'd wait longer and test again.

I've used something similar and it is useful for folks to understand what the legal limits feel like. In practice even two pints will put you over the lowest legal limit, three and you are definitely there. Most likely your driving skills are not impacted in any significant way. (Note that every rural and suburban town in the country has bars and basically every single patron has no option but to drive home from that bar at the end of the night. So millions of folks are drinking and driving in this country every day.) Above the point were you are a significant safety risk you (a) should know you are impacted and (b) should know that if you get pulled over you will get DWI that will result in you losing your license in many states. A DUI will also haunt you for years in terms of job applications, insurance, or the ability to rent a car.

So this really isn't a physical safety test as it is a legal safety question. But play around with something like this a few times and you will know the answer to the legal question. And the answer to that is that basically the standards are set so low that you are in trouble if you have had anything beyond a second beer. And if you are small or drink the beers quickly, you could pull a DUI on just two beers.

I don't think this should be batted away so easily. There's a reason why units are popping up in bars, etc. Sometimes people just don't think they've crossed that line and are surprised that they are. Sometimes due to the fact that the effects just haven't really set on at that point, but they will. Sometimes not until after they're behind the wheel.

If anything, even if you don't use it for yourself, you can block a friend and go "see.. you're not driving". People will blow into it to "prove" they're not drunk and then see the results.