SEATTLE—
Around 30,000 drivers are cited for drunk driving in Washington state every year.Increasingly, people seem to feel a personal breathalyzer may help them decide if they are safe to get behind the wheel. There are hundreds to choose from with various prices.
The one we used costs about $200. We brought it to a drinking lab put on by the Washington State Patrol. Volunteers were given alcohol so they could take part in field sobriety tests for officers training to become experts in drug and alcohol recognition.
One of the volunteers, Richard, downed seven shots of whiskey. First, he blew into a police breathalyzer. His blood alcohol level came up as .106. After using our breathalyzer, the reading was .12, a little higher.
We found that to be the case for all of the volunteers. The numbers would skew just a bit above the readings on the police breathalyzer.
Trooper Dan McDonald is still skeptical about personal breathalyzers because "they don't go through the quality assurance tests that ours do."
But King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg says he doesn't have a problem with the devices.
"People are being aware of the risk of drunk driving and that's good thing," Satterberg said.
