a friend of mine just got a breathalyzer for his birthday and we tested it out saturday night. we were blowing around a .25 at the end of the night and when we woke up around 6-7 hours later that morning all 3 of us blew a .13

i dont believe this is possible at all for a number of reasons, but my friend is convinced that alcohol can stay with you that long

i also dont trust that the breathalyzer he has is anywhere near as accurate as the one(s) that police officers use

so i'm looking to you, tww experts, for the answer

is this possible at all?

11/5/2007 11:36:58 PM

yes.

breathalysers measure the alcohol content of the air exiting your lungs.

11/5/2007 11:42:01 PM

Progressive Effects of Alcohol[1]
BAC (%) 	Behavior 	Impairment
.01–.06 	

    * Relaxation
    * Sense of Well-being
    * Loss of Inhibition
    * Lowered Alertness
    * Joyous

	

    * Thought
    * Judgment
    * Coordination
    * Concentration

.06–.10 	

    * Blunted Feelings
    * Disinhibition
    * Extroversion
    * Impaired Sexual Pleasure

	

    * Reflexes Impaired
    * Reasoning
    * Depth Perception
    * Distance Acuity
    * Peripheral Vision
    * Glare Recovery

.11–.20 	

    * Over-Expression
    * Emotional Swings
    * Angry or Sad
    * Boisterous

	

    * Reaction Time
    * Gross Motor Control
    * Staggering
    * Slurred Speech

.21–.29 	

    * Stupor
    * Lose Understanding
    * Impaired Sensations

	

    * Severe Motor Impairment
    * Loss of Consciousness
    * Memory Blackout

.30–.39 	

    * Severe Depression
    * Unconsciousness
    * Death Possible

	

    * Bladder Function
    * Breathing
    * Heart Rate

>.40 	

    * Unconsciousness
    * Death

	

    * Breathing
    * Heart Rate

11/5/2007 11:43:44 PM

The average drinker’s elimination is 0.015% per hour.
(source: http://www.drunkdrivingdefense.com/general/bac-comparison-over-time.htm)

Thus: 0.25 -0.015*6 = 0.16

Sounds reasonable to me.

11/5/2007 11:48:04 PM

At the class I took they said that .02 came off each hour of not drinking, so .25-(6)(.02)= .13.

Also, I knew several people who had the blower on their car who sometimes couldn't get it started till the next afternoon after drinking the night before.

11/6/2007 12:25:43 AM

^Don't people who have it on their car have to blow near a .00 (if it is put their by the court)?

Also I don't think breathalyzers are accurate unless you wait a while, maybe half hour or an hour) after you drink.

11/6/2007 3:34:52 AM

I dont know how fancy your friends breathalyzer is but most are not suppose to be used by multiple people as it can dramatically affect results whixh could throw off your reading too. this isnt always true though usually says on the box.

11/6/2007 8:34:11 AM

interesting tidbit:

the 'limit' of a Breathalyzer's accuracy is about .02, since that is the calibration of a typical unit.

11/6/2007 9:11:06 AM

http://www.breathalyzer.net/alcohawk-slim.html

I just purchased this breathalyzer a few weeks ago after a friend of mine blew a .10 after she had like 3 drinks at the bar and drove home. The thing you have to remember is that you have to be VERY careful when you use these things. There are stick procedures you have to follow to maintain accuracy, such as:

Wait at least 20 minutes after drinking, eating, or smoking or it will be inaccurate and possibly damage the sensor

Prime the sensor by blowing into it 5 seconds

You have to wait for at least 60, sometimes as much as 80 seconds while it self-calibrates. Then you blow in for about 5 seconds until it beeps.

You also have to send it in to get recalibrated if you use it a lot.


If that breathalyzer is anything like mine, if you two were getting shitty that night and then blew right into it after 5 minutes you could have made it inaccurate.

11/6/2007 11:00:18 AM

are there any manufacturers/models of these breathalyzers which are better than the others? i tried looking up reviews online but couldn't find a comprehensive review.

11/6/2007 11:21:58 AM

haha yea me and my boy went in on one my freshman year for like $50 out of a magazine

that shit would have some insane readouts, but it was fun for the few weekends we had it

11/10/2007 8:20:03 PM

I read a test on them several years ago when I was thinking about getting one and they were all wildly inaccurate. They all read way too high in the tests which can probably be attributed to companies trying to cover their ass and prevent people for blaming them when they got a DUI after the machine said they were fine to drive. Seemed pretty pointless to me, so I didn't buy it.

11/11/2007 9:42:11 PM

we use Intoximeters Alco-Sensor brand of products. Simple to use. They get calibrated often and the only thing you have to do to make sure its accurate is check the temp thing on the back and wait 5 minutes between blows to make sure theres no residual alcohol in the mouth. also the two reading needs to be within .02 of each other to be used. Could be a lifesaver I would pick one up if you can.

11/13/2007 2:29:33 PM

if you get arrested argue that the source code that drives the devices is closed source and potentially incorrect and since you don't have access to the code, the results can't be known for sure and you can get off.

hey, it worked for a guy earlier this year...

11/13/2007 3:31:23 PM

I work at a law firm and I've always been told if you know you aren't going to pass then DONT BLOW. because you only lose your liscense for 6 months whereas if you blow you'll catch a felony, pay out the ass in court costs, lawyer costs, etc. and end up having either community or intermediate time depending on your record. so the best thing to do is BS and say you want to blow downtown. take a while to get there....then demand to call a witness....another hour....and if you're still shitty then just don't blow. period.

11/13/2007 6:52:17 PM

oh and PS when I turned 21 my parents thought it would be a good idea to get a breatalyser from brookstone. It does not work.

11/13/2007 6:52:52 PM

In NC I think it's 1 month and not a felony.

[Edited on November 13, 2007 at 6:54 PM. Reason : .]

11/13/2007 6:53:39 PM

it's a year, but you can apply to have it re-instated after 6 months, and it's not a felony

11/13/2007 7:00:48 PM

actually, i read most people are still too intoxicated to drive even after 12:00pm the morning after parties.

11/13/2007 7:33:07 PM

Quote :

"so the best thing to do is BS and say you want to blow downtown"

implied consent doesn't apply to the handheld units anyway, so if you don't give them probable cause to arrest you then it's really a non-issue. but if they have probable cause to arrest you, then it's fairly likely that you'll be charged whether you take the test or not

11/13/2007 7:48:12 PM

i got a $100 alcohawk thing a few years back
worked great and seemed to be pretty accurate if you followed the directions

really, don't start blowing into it without waiting
it really does fuck up the sensor

11/13/2007 11:11:25 PM

why don't cops who work bars on friday nights give no-obligation breathalysers? seems like it would prevent a lot...he can still be there to deter fights, etc, but bring in the breather-- just see what you're doing

11/13/2007 11:23:35 PM

Quote :

"I work at a law firm and I've always been told if you know you aren't going to pass then DONT BLOW. because you only lose your liscense for 6 months whereas if you blow you'll catch a felony, pay out the ass in court costs, lawyer costs, etc. and end up having either community or intermediate time depending on your record. so the best thing to do is BS and say you want to blow downtown. take a while to get there....then demand to call a witness....another hour....and if you're still shitty then just don't blow. period. "

HAHAHAH

there's only a 30 minute wait for the witness and then the show goes on. and you lose your license for a year like somebody said but can get a limited priv if you don't make an ass of yourself.

11/14/2007 2:02:20 AM

the best thing to do would be to refrain from driving while intoxicated in the first place.

11/14/2007 6:03:43 AM

Quote :

"why don't cops who work bars on friday nights give no-obligation breathalysers?"

As I tried to explain in my prior post, it is HARD TO MAINTAIN ACCURACY OF A BREATHALYZER without following strict instructions and procedures such as waiting 20 minutes after consuming anything before you blow. Therefore somebody could fry the sensor on the first blow and it will read inaccurately from there on. Furthermore, the more the breathalyzer is used the more frequent recalibration would be needed. This makes bringing in a breathalyzer for kicks pretty useless unless the cops have models that are way less sensitive.

I'm not saying breathalyzer can't be inaccurate even when used properly, I'm just saying that it sounds like half the people in this thread who used home breathalyzers may not have been mindful (being intoxicated and all) to do what's necessary to maintain accuracy of the sensor.

11/14/2007 10:45:28 AM