What’s the most important feature in a personalized breathalyzer for you? Cost? Size? Reliability?
Bigger is better, right? Well, maybe. Unless you’re talking about travel size deodorant, hidden cameras, and pills you have to swallow whole. Oh, and personalized breathalyzer tests. Wait… what? Yup, you heard us. Small, compact, easy to carry breathalyser tests you can take anywhere with you, for convenient on-the-go testing.
DrinkMate is a small, portable breathalyzer, about the size of a flash drive. It plugs right into your smart phone, pairing with an app that you download, making it simple to power without draining your phone battery. The idea is that making sure you’re safe, and legal, to drive should be easy to determine for everyone. So Drinkmate has created this tiny, affordable breathalyzer that you can carry with you, in your glove box or in your pocket, to help you make smarter safer choices when drinking. While you shouldn’t think that this device and the app are absolutely guaranteed to be accurate, they can probably get you a reading that’s in the right zone.
According to their site, the Drinkmate is really easy to use. A first time user simply plugs the device into the charging port on their cell phone. The device will then prompt you to download the right app from the AppStore or Google Play. Once the app is loaded on your phone, it only takes a few seconds to use the device.
Let’s say you’re out drinking with friends. You’ve had a great night, and a number of great drinks, and now the evening is winding down. People are heading home, and you’re wondering if you should drive yourself home or catch a cab. No problem. Simply pull your Drinkmate out of your pocket, plug it into your phone, wait 7 seconds for the device to warm up, and then blow gently into the device from about 1 inch away. It will instantly calculate your BAC and display it on the screen. Simply, easy, safe.
So should you rush out and get one right now? Whoa, hold your horses!
The DrinkMate isn’t the only breathalyzer available for personal use, it simply claims to be the smallest. BACtrack, TruBreez, AlcoHAWK and ProTec all make handheld, portable breathalyzer devices that help drivers make safer, smarter decisions. For example, BACtrack makes keychain breathalyzers that are small and inexpensive, although their handheld S80 claims to offer police grade accuracy and comes with NHTSA and DOT approval. Remember, the manufacturer’s claims about accuracy won’t work in a Michigan court. Use these devices and apps at your own peril. They are probably better than simply ignoring your BAC.
So what makes the Drinkmate your best option? Honestly? Nothing that we’re aware of. Perhaps the size, if that’s something that matters to you. Maybe the price, if you don’t want to spend a fortune on tech gadgets. Or possibly the ease of use, although the fact that it pairs with an app on your phone might not be the best thing for you, if your phone tends to burn through it’s own battery and die just when you need it most.
The fact is, it doesn’t matter to us which personal breath test device you choose to use. What we do care about is you making a smart choice that keeps yourself and others out of danger. Choosing to catch a cab, arrange for a ride, or crash at a friend’s house are all equally good options. Failing that, if the decision you’ve already made wasn’t the right one (drinking and driving), you can ensure that the next choice you make is the best possible one – so if you’ve been arrested for drunk driving, hire a top-of-the-line drunk driving attorney to defend you.
Everybody makes mistakes. So if you are faced with the prospect of jail time and huge fines for driving under the influence, call The Kronzek Firm immediately at 866 766 5245. Our skilled DUI lawyers have spent decades successfully defending people from all over Michigan against drunk driving charges, and we can help you too.
