By the way - on a more serious note, what is the cost/turnaround time of sending it for recalibration?
I have one, and find it to be accurate, but touchy. If you take a drink and do it you will blow a .4, you need to wait at least 20 minutes after drinking to get a real reading. You also really need to blow slow and steady to get a good reading, and have a clean mouth piece. Look it is cheap, so it is not robust. On the other hand it is the greatest drunk person game ever.
I got an alcoHawk from woot probably 1 1/2 years ago. While a different meter, you also need to have not had a drink for 20 minutes. I think all the cheaper sensors require this, not sure about the one the cops use. The unit I have seems to read high if it hasn’t been 20 minutes.
Is anyone else having issues ordering? I keep getting tossed from the deals.woot site to the sellout.woot site, I’m starting to feel like a ping-pong ball…
No problem ordering here and on Woot (the Sham Wow towels).
All of these, even LE ones, require you to wait for a blow. That’s why LE officers ask “when did you last have a drink.”
People will always say “Maybe an hour ago” so they don’t look so bad. But the officer is confirming for his report that the meter gave an accurate reading because the driver said he or she had a drink beyond the 20 minutes.
It’s hard to do, but the best thing to say is you had a drink maybe 10 minutes earlier. That will at least prevent the field blow test not being admissible in court.
The best defense I ever saw used (on a case I lost as a DA) was when someone emptied a bottle of booze on to his car floor, hence the reason for the car smelling like booze. And he refused to say a word to the officer. And he refused to do all tests (FSTs and the breathalyzer).
While the case went to trial the defense attorney said his client may be a jerk, but there’s no evidence of intoxication level, much less over the limit.
He was right. Jury said not guilty. But at least I cost him about $8,000 in attorneys’ fees and his license was revoked for refusing to blow. (But he did not have a criminal conviction which is all he cared about.)
I digress.
If you said you had a drink 10 minutes ago wouldn’t the officer just wait 10 more minutes and then give you the breathalyzer test? I’ve never been pulled over and suspected of DUI, so I’m speculating, but that seems like a logical outcome of the situation.
These are pretty interesting party toys but I wouldn’t rely on them for any serious purpose.
First, with any device, there’s a possibility of operator error. Any untrained operator will introduce errors into the process. Law enforcement agencies use certified intox operators to minimize that error. The Youtube video shows Intoxilyzer 8000 but most states use the 5000 model.
Secondly, portable device like this is inherently less accurate because it doesn’t have software and hardware to detect between different types of alcohol and residual alcohol. Intox models, for example, have slope detectors that can pick up mouth alcohol and will give an invalid sample response (not some insanely high BAC).
Third, (kind of combining point 1 and 2) operator are trained to detect other physical clues that can make the Intox give invalid reading. For example, if you burp, alcohol in your stomach can artificially raise the BAC reading because of mouth alcohol but in a small enough amount to fool the slope detector. Operators are trained to wait 20 minutes if they observe a burp. Medical conditions like GERD and ketoacidosis can lead to invalid readings and are harder to detect by operators or the machine.
Fourth, Intox models are calibrated regularly and tested each time. Intox 5000 tests air blank that should read .000 and then breath test 1, and tests air blank again for .000 and breath test 2. The lower of the two breath tests is used and the entire test is invalidated if the difference between the two tests is greater than .02.
These are kind of like the Portable Breath Testers (PBTs) the police carry as a preliminary screening tool, but probably less robust and accurate. PBT results are not admissible in court in most, if not all, jurisdictions because the device does not satisfy the federal Daubert standard for admissibility of scientific evidence, and local standard for the same. At most, police can testify that PBT has detected the presence of alcohol without giving the numerical value.
If you watched the Youtube video, you saw the police administer the horizontal gaze nystagmus test and vertical gaze nystagmus test. If administered correctly, that’s a more accurate test than this cheap device. In a recent validation test, 4 out of 6 clues in HGN test accurately predicted BAC of over .08 in 88% of the subjects. But you’re not going to get training in HGN (and the other two field sobriety test that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deveoped: Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand) unless you’re an active duty cop in DUI Task Force, or you pay a healthy fee to attend a seminar presented by a retired NHTSA-certified instructor.
I’m an attorney with a DUI defense practice and I went through the 24 hour seminar. It’s illuminating and incredibly useful.
As for this device, it’s an interesting party toy like I said. But that should be the limit of its utility, or you’re going to need to hire me or one of my colleagues.
Oh maaan! If only I had this an hour ago… now I’m stuck in the back of a cop car.
Free breathalyser tests with each DUI!
Now that you can BAC trace it, it will save you from the Cyberpolice.
if i click i want one in deals it sends me to woot sellout. if i click i want one in sellout-it sends me to deals??? wtf
I have one of these, they are great! Best gadget to take to a party!
nice video, but it looks like the version in the video is different than this one. on the video they are blowing around it/near it, this one looks like you blow into the tube. so, maybe it’s more accurate now than when it was pitted against the intoxilyzer?
If it’s not Fuel Cell based, it’s not going to be accurate or last for long. Save your money.
“There are many models of consumer or personal breath alcohol testers on the market. These hand-held devices are generally less expensive than the devices used by law enforcement. Most retail consumer breath testers use semiconductor-based sensing technology, which is less expensive, less accurate, and less reliable than fuel cell and infrared devices. While semiconductor devices can sense the presence of breath alcohol, they do not provide as reliable measures of BAC.”
Spoke to someone at BACtrack about that whole calibration thing…this model is recommended about every 6 months…you pay to ship they pay to ship back…Cost: 20 bucks. Turnaround about 5 business days from when they get it. So it’ll be accurate the first 6 months at least if you never get it calibrated again. After that it’s called press your luck!
If someone is ketoacidotic, I doubt they are worrying about performing a self breathalyzer test in the ICU.
I bought the product, but only after fighting through more re-directs than I get when trying to get free porn. The new “relationships” that woot has established with its sales partners have me seriously considering ending my relationship with the site.
Shipping Update
BACtrack Select Breathalyzer w/Extra Mouthpieces has completely shipped via FEDEX SMART POST. All tracking has already been emailed out. You can also find your tracking number by following this link and use your ORDER NUMBER as the reference number.