Here in the United States, drunk driving is a real problem, one that has already cost many lives – and many peoples’ freedoms as well. In fact, drunk driving is so dangerous that a new person becomes injured in a drunk driving related incident for every two seconds that pass, and many people lose their lives to drunk driving as well, up to twenty eight for each and every day that passes by. And drunk driving is far from isolated here in the United States – instead, it is widespread.
The data backs this up, showing that as many as three hundred thousand people get behind the wheel while drunk, though unfortunately less than five thousand of them will actually be caught. It has even been estimated that the average drunk driver will get away with driving drunk upwards of eighty times before finally being caught and charged. There is no doubt about it that drunk driving is all too common in the United States as well as incredibly and increasingly dangerous.
Fortunately, there are ways that drunk driving can be fought back against. One such way is the use of the car breathalyzer. A car breathalyzer works with ignition interlock systems, which are typically installed on the cars of those who have been charged and convicted of a DUI. Drinking and driving is impossible with such systems, as the typical ignition interlock device will prevent the car from starting if the car breathalyzer that is in use detects a blood alcohol level (also known as a BAC) that is over the limit that has been set.
And such devices are set to be better safe than sorry. Though the legal blood alcohol limit is .08, many a car breathalyzer and ignition interlock device will be set much lower, at a level of around .03 or .04 at the most and sometimes are set even as low as .02. This helps to ensure that the person who is getting behind the wheel has consumed no alcohol whatsoever, not even a sip. Some people even recommend that such devices be installed in all cars, whether or not a DUI conviction has been upheld or if the person has even been charged with a DUI in the first place.
Already, the ignition interlock system and car breathalyzer have proved to be hugely effective in many cases. In fact, there are more than one hundred and fifty thousand cars that currently have such systems installed, allowing drivers who have been charged with multiple DUIs (and convicted of them) to get back on the road and back to their lives in as safe of a manner as is possible. And in these cases, the success rates have been immense, with data showing that arrest rates that are related to driving while under the influence have been reduced by as much as seventy percent thanks to the installation of the typical interlock device.
It has even been found that such systems can get those convicted drivers who have been found guilty for multiple DUI cases back on the right track again. Many need their cars to maintain their lives and even to survive, and so have motivation not to try to get behind the wheel after drinking or while at all intoxicated. And while we know that interlock installation is great for the reducing impaired driving while it is installed, it has also been found to reduce drunk driving after it has been removed as well by a truly impressive thirty nine percent.
The car breathalyzer also helps to prevent people from drinking while on the road as well, as using the car breathalyzer is not just necessary before the car will start. In fact, most systems require that the driver use the car breathalyzer every fifteen or so minutes or else randomly throughout the trip. This, of course, will help to prevent alcohol from being consumed at any point while the person convicted of one DUI or more is behind the wheel.
All in all, drunk driving is dangerous but we have tools to reduce it.