We Put Them to the Test

For many of us the situation is all too familiar: you go to a bar with friends have a couple drinks and you think you're okay to drive home, that is until you see the flashing blue lights in your rearview mirror. In 2005 Lubbock Police made 685 drunk driving arrests. However NewsChannel 11 has learned of a new technology gaining popularity in bars across the Hub City that could prevent you from getting behind the wheel after having drinks. NewsChannel 11's Kealey McIntire has details.

It's called the Depot Entertainment District because that's what we go there for. The legal limit for alcohol is .08 and often times you may be above that limit without knowing it, so you still find yourself asking, "Am I okay to drive home?" With a certain machine and 75 cents you could make a better decision.

It's a familiar situation you go out to have fun then at the end of the night you drive home. However, almost 99,000 people in the state made a bad decision when it came to closing time in 2004, that's how many people wound up in jail for driving while intoxicated.

Jake's Sports Cafe Manager Duff Ripley said, "It's a good tool to have in a restaurant/ bar."

A machine could have helped those people make a better decision. "It gives us a benchmark if you will of where the customers are," said Ripley.

He's talking about "Alcohol Tester," a retail breathalyzer designed to help you gauge how much you've had to drink.

Ripley said, "This helps them get an idea of where they stand. If they've had two or three drinks they come here and blow and realize, okay, that's probably my limit."  They may call a cab or give their keys to their wife.

The process is simple you put in your money grab a straw and blow into the machine. If the white lights up that indicates a point zero and the red, that indicates you're legally drunk.

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You put money in the jukebox, the mechanical bull, or a pool table at your favorite drinking spot. Now you can put money in the breathalyzer machine to test your blood alcohol level after having a few alcoholic drinks. Many bars, pubs, clubs and entertainment venues that serve liquor are getting involved in alcohol safety by installing coin operated breathalyzes.

As drunk driving accidents and deaths continue to occur despite the ramifications of drunk driving laws, many drinking establishments are taking a more proactive approach to keeping their patrons safe on the road.

Although bartenders are trained to recognize when a patron has had too much to drink, an onsite breathalyzer supports their decision. When customers actually see their blood alcohol concentration (BAC), they are less likely to get into their car and drive.

A coin operated breathalyzer machine also helps bridge issues that blocked previously proposed drunk driving prevention efforts from gaining approval from establishments that serve alcohol. Advocates for alcohol prevention found it difficult to enact any measure that would restrict people from drinking, thus impacting a venue owner’s bottom line. They were also faced with opposition from civil right activists who raised issues of stifling personal freedom and individual rights.

A coin operated breathalyzer provides an agreeable medium by affording the owner of the establishment to earn additional revenue by promoting responsible drinking. It is a worthy compromise in presenting breathalyzers as an entertaining safety device.

Most fixed breathalyzers are equipped with fuel cell technology, which allows for highly accurate BAC test results. They are designed to give the user easy to follow audio and visual cues for proper operation, as well as visual and audio warnings based on the results. As a mouthpiece, breathalyzers mounted to a wall use a cylindrical straw dispensed by the device for the user to breathe into to begin the alcohol test. The breath test sensor calculates alcohol content within 10 seconds.

When it comes to customer appreciation, there’s no better way for owners of establishments serving alcohol to show it than to install a coin operated breathalyzer in their bar, pub, club, or other venue and encourage patrons to use it to ensure their safety and the safety of others on the road.

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