Not everybody has a friendly bar within walking distance. Not everybody lives in places with a good public transport service. And not everyone lives close enough to those they want to go out with to make getting a cab or rideshare home affordable. Hence, a lot of people use their car to get home from a place where they consumed alcohol.
Many drivers opt to keep a breath tester in their vehicle to check they are legally safe to drive. While it’s positive that they do this, it’s also a little misguided. There are several reasons this is so.
Problems with self-testing kits
Firstly, these breath testing machines gloss over the fact that any amount of alcohol will worsen a person’s ability to drive. The breath tester focuses people on staying under the 0.08% BAC limit, which is the point where the police can automatically give someone a DUI charge. It ignores the fact that they could well be a threat to themselves and others before that. It also ignores the fact that the police can still issue a drunk driving charge even if someone is under that limit. They’ll just need to justify their decision by some other means, such as how the person was driving.
Secondly, personal breath testing machines are not that reliable. People who test within the limit on one may gain false confidence that they are legally OK to drive, only to read over the limit when the police stop them and test them on their more refined machines.
Everyone makes mistakes. If you made a mistake by thinking you were sober enough to drive, only for the police to decide you were not, then early legal guidance can help you navigate what comes next.