Saturday, July 18, 2015

On Drunk Driving and Breathalyzer Analysis


It's been 17 years now when I lost my elder brother because of a vehicular accident. There were three of them riding a motorcycle and about to turn, when a fast approaching car hit them. All the three of them died while the driver of the car was not hurt at all. My brother and his 2 friends was drunk and so was the driver of the car who hit them. It was one of the saddest days in my life and if only I can get back on that time, I would not let him leave our house. He left 3 very small boys then and their lives were never the same again without their father.

Based on statistics, one of the most common causes of vehicular accident is drunk driving. Because of the increasing numbers of accidents caused by this, The government created the Republic Act 10586, also known as Anti-Drunk/Drugged Driving Act.

This act aims to ensure safety of pedestrians and protect motorists. Penalty for violating this rule includes not less than 3 months but not more than 20 years imprisonment, a fine of 20,000 to half a million pesos and either suspension or permanent dismissal of driver's license.

Driver caught against this act will undergo "field sobriety test" test which includes eye test, one-leg stand, and walk and turn test.

Eye test.

Beat a DUI Step 3.jpg
Source: Wikihow

The officer place an object, penlight for example, in front of the driver's eyes about a foot from the face and will move it sideways. A drunk person cannot follow a moving object smoothly and jerking of eyes when moved sideways (about 45 degrees).

One-leg stand.

photo source: EN Lawyers
The driver will be asked to stand in one foot with arms together while counting by thousand (one thousand, two thousand, and so on) as the other foot is raised to about 6 inches off the ground. The driver will keep still for about 30 seconds. If the driver sways while balancing, uses arms to balance, hops to regain balance and puts the raised foot down, he or she will be a suspect for drunk driving.

Walk and turn test.

Beat a Field Sobriety Test Step 3.jpg
photo source: Wikihow
The driver will be asked to make 9 heel-toe walks. After the 9th step, the person must turn and return back to the officer. A driver will fail if he/she cannot keep balance while listening to the instruction, will start the test before the instruction is finished, stops while walking to keep have balance, cannot make the heel-toe walk properly, steps off the line, uses arms to maintain the balance, makes wrong turn, makes incorrect number of steps.

Once failed on one of the three test, the driver will undergo breath analyzer test. This is to determine if the level of alcohol is above or below the limit. If the percentage of alcohol in the breath registers more than 0.05%, the driver will face the necessary consequences stated in the Republic Act 10586.

Choosing the best breath analyzers is one of the key. An accurate, reliable and well-calibrated breath analyzers should be chosen in order to reduce complaints and questions from the suspects.

The New York DUI Defense released their analysis and reviews in some of the breath analyzers sold in the market. The review are categorized based on:

Highest customer ratings on Amazon,

Breathalyzer-top5rated

budget friendly yet effective and has best features,

Breathalyzer-5budget-friendly

smartphone compatible,

Breathalyzer-smartphone-compatible

government-approved, and

Breathalyzer-DoT-Approved-2

price.
Breathalyzer-cost-of-personal (1)

Aside from having the best breath analyzers, strict implementation of the Anti-Drunk/Drugged Driving Act will be the best solution to reduce or better eliminate drunk-driving-related accidents. This way no lives will be wasted because of another one's irresponsibility. 
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