Breathalyzers are BS

So, I've had a court issued interlock in my car for the last 6 months. Its a mandatory condition of having your license restored for anyone caught drink driving in the Australian state I live in... btw, an interlock is a Breathalyzer device that's installed into your car, which you have to blow into every time you start your car... On mine, you have to blow under .02, to be able to start your car.

But anyway, though experience, I've come to the conclusion that they're complete nonsense and are extremely inefficient in detecting how drunk a person actually is...

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

Also, brushing your teeth makes a huge difference... We all know brushing your teeth doesn't make you less drunk, right? But believe me, it could be the difference between losing your license and walking away scot-free from a random breath test.

Also, drinking lots of water can make you go from being over the legal limit to being well under within minutes... but then again, it doesn't make you less drunk... at least, not within minutes.

So why are breathalyzers being used to convict people of driving under the influence, when they're clearly so inefficient of accurately measuring a persons blood alcohol content?

We've had breathalyzers in Australia since I can remember... but I know in the US the police haven't till recently always used them (some states probably still don't).

It always used to get me so mad, watching all those US cop shows, where the police are making people do those stupid sobriety tests... Its like, "just Breathalyze them or let them go!" It just seemed incredibly degrading, the police making people dance around like circus animals!

But now I'm not so sure... I mean, If I'm capable of jumping on one foot, well reciting the alphabet backwards, then I feel I've earn't the right to keep my license, no matter how much alcohol I've consumed, right?

In my view if you drink and drive you should never drive again.

Simple.

So yeah I agree they are BS.

Stop drinking and driving, and you'll be fine.


No pity here.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033...

You're drinking shots of whiskey in the morning and moaning about having a breathalyzer hardwired into your vehicle? Please tell me this is satire.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
In my view if you drink and drive you should never drive again.

Simple.

So yeah I agree they are BS.

That is so far beyond idiotic I can't even wrap my head around it.

Say a fella goes to the pub and has 4 beers. The legal limit where I live is .05 which is very low standards.

So the fella gets pulled over for not doing a complete stop at a stop sign. One thing leads to another and he has to blow. He ends up blowing .07.

You advocate that a person that blew .02 over the limit and is in NO way drunk should have their entire life ruined? Really? That's some real totalitarian bs right there.

Now if the limit is .05 and the driver blows .25? Sure I could support a long term driving ban for something like that but your mindset on this issue is a complete joke.

That's like saying that anyone caught with ANY amount of weed should be arrested, charged and convicted. No matter if it's 1 gram of weed or 1000 grams they should have a criminal record and have their entire life ruined.

What a joke of a worldview you have their kid. Good thing you have no say.

a reply to: Carcharadon

That is so far beyond idiotic I can't even wrap my head around it

I knew a really nice bunch of girls once.

Head on crash killed by a drink driver.

It should be a close to zero tolerance policy.

originally posted by: Carcharadon

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
In my view if you drink and drive you should never drive again.

Simple.

So yeah I agree they are BS.

That is so far beyond idiotic I can't even wrap my head around it.

Say a fella goes to the pub and has 4 beers. The legal limit where I live is .05 which is very low standards.

So the fella gets pulled over for not doing a complete stop at a stop sign. One thing leads to another and he has to blow. He ends up blowing .07.

You advocate that a person that blew .02 over the limit and is in NO way drunk should have their entire life ruined? Really? That's some real totalitarian bs right there.

Now if the limit is .05 and the driver blows .25? Sure I could support a long term driving ban for something like that but your mindset on this issue is a complete joke.

That's like saying that anyone caught with ANY amount of weed should be arrested, charged and convicted. No matter if it's 1 gram of weed or 1000 grams they should have a criminal record and have their entire life ruined.

What a joke of a worldview you have their kid. Good thing you have no say.

YOU are the one who has got to be kidding.

While you may be capable of holding your booze, others clearly aren't. I've met people who turn into morons after a couple drinks. Behind the wheel these people could kill you or someone you love.

Grow up.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033...

You're drinking shots of whiskey in the morning and moaning about having a breathalyzer hardwired into your vehicle? Please tell me this is satire.

Exactly. If serious, I hope the OP has his licence revoked for life before he kills himself or much worse, someone else.

originally posted by: Carcharadon

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
In my view if you drink and drive you should never drive again.

Simple.

So yeah I agree they are BS.

You advocate that a person that blew .02 over the limit and is in NO way drunk should have their entire life ruined? Really? That's some real totalitarian bs right there.

.02 is drunk, just below the legal limit. If you take a drink, you are impaired, period. And every time you do that, you put MY life in danger. If OP has an interlock, I guarantee he has a problem with alcohol. And 4 beers at a bar, which you think is okay, is way over the top. You don't have the right to do that and it is in no way "totalitarian" to prevent you from doing that.

If you think breathalyzers are "BS" there's one good way to avoid them altogether. Don't drink and drive. Don't expect much sympathy if you do. It's your own damn fault.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

I mean, If I'm capable of jumping on one foot, well reciting the alphabet backwards, then I feel I've earn't the right to keep my license, no matter how much alcohol I've consumed, right?

But not the right to drive based on impaired judgement, perhaps.

Also, maybe try the interlock device after not drinking for a day or two, perhaps. Of course, hope you don't also smoke.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033...

You're drinking shots of whiskey in the morning and moaning about having a breathalyzer hardwired into your vehicle? Please tell me this is satire.

Obviously I'm talking about drinking the night before... then blowing over in the morning when I wake up, on my way to work.

Admittedly, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but It'd really take a real idiot to slam down a few bourbons on their way out the door, hoping the interlock won't realize.

Although, I'm sure some have tried...

That's not what you said. You said:

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

That right there tells me you need to have your license permanently jerked. And get some help. That's the behavior of a full blown alcoholic.

Impairment based on alcohol level in the blood is an established science.

An actual deep lung alveolar sample is hard to beat in court. Especially in my state where two samples are taken and screening is done for mouth alcohol. 0.08 BAC / 210L is per se intoxicated. The interlock that you have is similiar to a PBT that it isn't as accurate or admissible in court as a more serious instrument, but it's pretty close. If anything, it would read *higher*, not lower than actual BAC due to mouth alcohol.

As someone who can hold their liquor and has played with a freshly calibrated PBT, screw anyone who drives at a 0.05 BAC or above.

See, the problem with drinking is that it gives you false confidence in your own abilities. As someone who has had to clean up DUI driver's messes... anyone who willingly drinks and drives needs to lose their license.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Obviously I'm talking about drinking the night before... then blowing over in the morning when I wake up, on my way to work.

If you drink that much where you're still metabolizing and blowing the next morning, maybe you're drinking too much. Alcohol is also metabolized via the lungs, hence breathalyzers.

originally posted by: schuyler
That's not what you said. You said:

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

That right there tells me you need to have your license permanently jerked. And get some help. That's the behavior of a full blown alcoholic.

Maybe your right... But then maybe some people who don't consider themselves as "alcoholics" and enjoy a few glasses of wine in the evening should buy a breathalyzer, then test themselves in the morning on their way to work... I think they may be in for a surprise, when they catch a reading.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

originally posted by: schuyler
That's not what you said. You said:

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

That right there tells me you need to have your license permanently jerked. And get some help. That's the behavior of a full blown alcoholic.

Maybe your right... But then maybe some people who don't consider themselves as "alcoholics" and enjoy a few glasses of wine in the evening should buy a breathalyzer, then test themselves in the morning on their way to work... I think they may be in for a surprise, when they catch a reading.

I doubt a few glasses of wine the night before will trigger a breathalyzer the next morning.

originally posted by: Liquesence

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

originally posted by: schuyler
That's not what you said. You said:

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

That right there tells me you need to have your license permanently jerked. And get some help. That's the behavior of a full blown alcoholic.

Maybe your right... But then maybe some people who don't consider themselves as "alcoholics" and enjoy a few glasses of wine in the evening should buy a breathalyzer, then test themselves in the morning on their way to work... I think they may be in for a surprise, when they catch a reading.

I doubt a few glasses of wine the night before will trigger a breathalyzer the next morning.

Correct. Basically a single drink takes an hour to metabolize back to a reading of zero, though your body weight can affect this This is established science. It's not "opinion."

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: Liquesence

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa

originally posted by: schuyler
That's not what you said. You said:

I can get up in the morning after downing a few shots of wild turkey, feeling as clear as day and at the top of my game and I'll blow .033... but then wake up after drinking a heap of beer, feeling like the living dead, stumble down the stairs of my apartment and blow .000...WTF, right?

That right there tells me you need to have your license permanently jerked. And get some help. That's the behavior of a full blown alcoholic.

Maybe your right... But then maybe some people who don't consider themselves as "alcoholics" and enjoy a few glasses of wine in the evening should buy a breathalyzer, then test themselves in the morning on their way to work... I think they may be in for a surprise, when they catch a reading.

I doubt a few glasses of wine the night before will trigger a breathalyzer the next morning.

Correct. Basically a single drink takes an hour to metabolize back to a reading of zero, though your body weight can affect this This is established science. It's not "opinion."

Exactly. So if one is drinking enough where it's still being metabolized the next day to impact a breathalyzer, that's a lot of alcohol (or not very much sleep).

originally posted by: Carcharadon

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
In my view if you drink and drive you should never drive again.

Simple.

So yeah I agree they are BS.

That is so far beyond idiotic I can't even wrap my head around it.

Say a fella goes to the pub and has 4 beers. The legal limit where I live is .05 which is very low standards.

So the fella gets pulled over for not doing a complete stop at a stop sign. One thing leads to another and he has to blow. He ends up blowing .07.

You advocate that a person that blew .02 over the limit and is in NO way drunk should have their entire life ruined? Really? That's some real totalitarian bs right there.

Now if the limit is .05 and the driver blows .25? Sure I could support a long term driving ban for something like that but your mindset on this issue is a complete joke.

That's like saying that anyone caught with ANY amount of weed should be arrested, charged and convicted. No matter if it's 1 gram of weed or 1000 grams they should have a criminal record and have their entire life ruined.

What a joke of a worldview you have their kid. Good thing you have no say.

Right... because they just dole out interlock systems for first time offenders right? No, not right. Where Inlive it’s your 3rd felony DWI that gets some new jewelry for your car. More to your straw man argument though, .02 over the limit means that they don’t have the cognizance to realize that they are violating he law and are putting other people’s lives in danger. Claiming that it’s stupid for someone to lose their driving privelages, because that’s what they are, not a right, because they were “only .02 over the legal limit” makes it sound like you are driving around half in the bag on a regular basis if it offends you to such an extent. Sorry, public safety trumps one persons desire to endanger others because they can’t be a responsible adult. It really is that simple.

I work across the parking lot from an Interlock installation Facility, see all kinds come in and some cant help but make Their way across the parking lot to see what We are putting in Our barrels. We want to tell Them They've had enough, but We have to be nice.