Alcotest [General]

2008 Dec 7
Does anyone know where to find an Alcotest set?

2008 Dec 7
eBay has personal use ones (not sure of the accuracy) for 20 bucks including shipping. ... but for the professional ("See you in Court !!!") Dräger Alcotest (tm) you need to call the Dräger Canada people:

DRAEGER SAFETY CANADA LTD.

7555 Danbro Crescent
Mississauga, ON L5N 6P9
Canada

Tel: (905) 821 8988
Fax: (905) 821 2565

CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Tel: (877) 372 4371

www.draeger.com

Word of Caution: Blood alcohol level continues to rise after you finish consuming. The drug ... whoops ... I mean alcohol continues to enter your blood stream after you place down your last empty glass . So if you check a guest as he/she is leaving your house they may indicate a level below the 0.08 ml/litre but could rise to a criminal conviction level when tested at the R.I.D.E. Stop just down the road.

I remember this from being tested at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show years ago. It was fun to giggle at the Police Officer after blowing wayyy over on the ALERT tester he was using.

Saying I wasn't driving and making fun of the situation made one of the cops say "Hey !! Watch it !! Or I'll charge you with being 'Intoxicated in a Public Place'.

Then again about half the people in The Ottawa Congress Centre were intoxicated.


2008 Dec 7
I like what Homer says about Alcohol.

"To Alcohol !! The cause of .... and the solution to ... all of life's problem's"


2008 Dec 8
Speaking of which, I participated in Alcotest training a while ago. On one of the days I was a test subject, drank pretty heavily, great times.

What I learned is that 0.08 is significantly drunk. Took alot of drink and time for me to get there and realised that anyone driving at that level is a real idiot. So many times I've decided not to drive since I thought I was close to 0.05, but I was probably nearer 0.03 or even less.

2008 Dec 8
Draft-Diner - That may have been so in that particular situation, but as you know alcohol absorption can change based on a variety of things... percentage of alcohol (ie wine vs beer), whether you've ate, tiredness, or if you are taking any other drugs (even over the counter stuff). And actually a majority of people when they do these tests are surprised that they believe they are quite capable to drive etc, only to discover they blow over. They still say the best rule is 1 drink per hour plus 1 hour for it to pass... of course if you drink 2 drinks in 2 hours, those numbers COMPOUND not just multiply.

Being safe vs sorry, is always the best rule. And December of course is the biggest month for the Ride Program.


2008 Dec 9
F&D, I'm well aware of the varying factors affecting different people, just relaying my personal experience is all.

2008 Dec 9
Food&Think. Just curious, have you tried one of those tests (so you have first hand knowledge?) I have not tried one myself, but I had heard similar first hand stories as Daft_Diner. I believe Daft_Diner was specifically talking the numbers that the test gives, versus the more general idea of suitability, or fitness to drive. Of course, this is sort of a loaded topic ;-)

2008 Dec 9
Pete-In-Ottawa - Indeed I'm guessing that we are coming at this topic from two different perspectives. I personally haven't taken one of those tests, but I've seen them televised on Tv around the Holiday Season where they illustrate the results (usually the OPP) with a couple of media types that take the test in a controlled environment... anyways, the one show I saw they used a varitey of people (women, men, big, small, etc) and they also pulled people out of the test over time (ie. numbers after one drink, two drinks, etc). They chatted with each person before they blew... and got their opinions on how they felt etc. It was surprising really how early the alcohol kicked in for some people and not others (and it wasn't just the women, or the smallest people). It was also surprising how as time went on, more people looked intoxicated (to the viewer), but didn't really see themselves as intoxicated. After say 3 drinks, many women thought they were ok to drive... when in fact they were over. Same was true of men (some blew over at 3). Not surprisingly as the test went on the men were the most convinced they were still capable (by 4 and 5 drinks, the women knew they were loaded). Of course by then, everyone blew over.

I hope I have explained where my mindset was when I read Draft-Diner's original comment. And I also wanted to point out that what works once for a person today may not necessarily work for them again tomorrow (ie didn't eat lunch etc).

2008 Dec 9
So after much looking I found that you can buy the disposable ones at the SAC's in Quebec for $5.95 each. Saw a reusable one on the 'What's Cooking' tv show and they advertised it as a great host/hostess gift. I agree, but no where on their website do they tell you where to buy it?! Have an email in to the show but not sure if I will get a reply.

2008 Dec 9
I did a quick wikipedia search and found some interesting facts.

Normal acceptable BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) for driving in countries seems to be 0.05%. A couple countries (Ireland, USA, Canada) have 0.08, and others go as low as 0.02%.

"The number of drinks consumed is a poor measure of BAC, largely because of variations in weight, sex, and body fat. However, it is generally accepted that the consumption from sober of one standard drink of alcohol (e.g. 14 grams (17.74 ml) ethanol content by U.S. standard) will increase the average person's BAC roughly 0.02% to 0.05% and would return to 0% about 1.5 to 3 hours later (at a dissipation rate of around 0.015% per hour)" - Wikipedia entry, no citation.

I found a link to a general online BAC calculator from the state government of Wisconsin www.dot.wisconsin.gov which is a neat tool to try.

2008 Dec 9
I have one for home use, and I agree with the comment above that 0.08 is WAY too drunk for me to drive. It was useful to sort of calibrate my own sense of intoxication and helped me feel confident that I was not violating the law when I I felt sober.

Interestingly, the risk of accidents does increase between 0.05 and 0.08, which I guess is the rationale for setting a lower limit.

2008 Dec 10
Of course there is a whole movement directed towards Zero Tolerance when it comes to alcohol consumption and driving... so it is only a matter of time before the level falls from 0.08 to 0.05 or less.