Know that old saying, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it"? It also applies to any situation in which you're thinking about getting into a car but wondering what your blood-alcohol content is. If you're splitting hairs over whether you're technically above the legal limit for drinking and driving, you might be missing the point. Be that as it may, we live in a world of gadgets and devices, and if you really want to know what you're likely to blow into a Breathalyzer when the cops pull you over, then yes, there's even an app for that.
Related: Could New Tech Make Drunken Driving a Thing of the Past?
Numerous gadgets exist for measuring your own BAC, some more reliable than others. One of the newer devices also purports to be the most technologically advanced and accurate. With Alcohoot's smartphone attachment-and-app combo, all you have to do is wait 15 minutes after your last drink for an accurate reading, plug the Alcohoot attachment into your smartphone's headphone jack, insert the mouthpiece into your mouth, blow steadily for 5 seconds and the downloaded app shows your BAC on your Android or Apple iPhone screen. It works off of an FDA-registered fuel-cell sensor, the same used by law enforcement officers, and with similarly precise results, according to Alcohoot.
"There are various unofficial calculators that can estimate your BAC by analyzing various factors such as BMI (body-mass index), number of drinks, alcohol concentration of the drinks, etc.," Alcohoot's website states. "These are, however, less accurate than using a fuel-cell sensor breathalyzer such as Alcohoot."
But are devices like this really helping rid the streets of drunken drivers? They're controversial among some groups for obvious reasons. Although a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 is generally accepted as the legal limit in the U.S., it's hardly an absolute indicator of intoxication. The threshold in Europe ranges from zero-tolerance to roughly half our legal limit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Cars.com it does not endorse products, has not tested any self-BAC testers and, therefore, could not comment. However, Mothers Against Drunk Driving said it does not support the use of personal alcohol tests in making decisions about a person's ability to drive after drinking.
"These apps or BAC calculators may give the user a false sense of security that it's safe to drive, when in fact it is not," MADD National President Colleen Sheehey-Church told Cars.com. "The safest choice is to always designate a non-drinking driver if your plans include alcohol."
The manufacturers of Alcohoot agree that drinking and driving should not be combined. The product website states: "If you have had anything to drink, Alcohoot does not recommend you drive."
Still, it's not difficult to see some value in gaining knowledge through the use of technology about how alcohol affects you, how quickly, the measure of perceived impairment at certain levels and the length of time it takes to recover. An Alcohoot user gets more than just a simple BAC reading. The report includes the time, a description of the typical impairment for someone at that level, and the user's BAC position on a graphic chart starting at 0.0. You can also call for a taxi through the Alcohoot app, as well as keep track of all your tests both throughout an evening and historically.
Alcohoot is manufactured by Vertisense, the New York-based maker of connected sensor technologies. Available in black, red and white, it costs $99.99 and comes with the smartphone BAC tester attachment, a USB charging cable and eight reusable mouthpieces. Additional mouthpieces and replacement charging cables can be purchased for $7.99 and $9.99, respectively.
While Alcohoot claims to be the most accurate, it's hardly the only name in personal alcohol-testing devices. Floome, for example, costs $99 and distinguishes itself by allowing you to instantly post your BAC results to social media sites, though at least one test of the device yielded an absurdly inaccurate reading. The Breathometer, meanwhile, is nearly half the cost of the others, requires no mouthpiece and can fit on a keychain; it will not only estimate your BAC level but inform you when you are "back to zero," or sober.
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