Let’s be real: You don’t ever want a drunk driving charge if you can avoid it. If you’re going to be drinking heavily, don’t drive.
But what about those occasions when you just want a glass of wine with dinner? What about those times when you’re out with your friends and just want a beer or two over the course of the evening? You certainly don’t feel intoxicated, but it would be nice to have some reassurance that you’re safely below the legal blood alcohol limit to be driving.
That’s where pocket “Breathalyzers” come in. You can buy keychain devices or download apps that promise to deliver an instant assessment of your blood alcohol content (BAC) anytime you need it.
Sounds great, right? The only problem: They don’t really work. These inexpensive devices are more of a novelty item than true testing devices. Even if they work great under perfect conditions, the mere fact that their owners have to carry them around in their pockets or may occasionally drop them could mess with their calibration and skew their results.
The last thing you want to do is to trust your future to an electronic gizmo that was mass-produced as cheaply as possible in some far-away factory. If you’re going out where you’ll be drinking and you don’t want to abstain, it’s safer to just get a ride home.
Mistakes do happen, however, even to the most responsible among us. If you were pulled over and accused of drunk driving, find out more about what it takes to fight the charges in court.