What Is a Personal Breathalyzer and Do I Need One?

 Posted on May 13, 2014 in DUI

The market is flooded with personal mobile breathalyzer devices that can be used to determine whether you are too intoxicated to drive. These devices have become popular, not just because they are accessible and quite affordable, but also because some of them do have high levels of accuracy.

If being arrested for DUI is a concern for you – as it should be - then it might help to invest in a personal breathalyzer. It is handy to carry around, and you can instantly use it to check whether your blood alcohol levels are too high for you to drive safely.

While there are a number of breathalyzer models available, you don't want to skimp on price. Don't choose the cheapest breathalyzer you can find.

Don't sacrifice accuracy for portability. The smaller the breathalyzer, the less likely it is to be very accurate. Smaller keychain-sized models may be easy to carry around, but they don't deliver high accuracy levels.

Look for larger-sized models and modals manufactured by reputed companies. These tend to deliver more accurate results. Look for models that are based on fuel-cell sensors that do a much better job of accurately gauging your blood alcohol levels. Fuel cell sensor-based models are more professional, and do not show false positive results for diabetics, or others who may not be intoxicated. They are much more accurate than semi conductor- sensor based models. Fuel-cell sensor-based models are very similar to the ones that you find in police stations. They also deliver results for more numbers of tests, and you can probably use them for thousands of tests.

However, the effectiveness of a personal breathalyzer device is closely linked to the accurate use of these devices. If incorrectly used, you could receive a false negative result, resulting in a DUI arrest for you.