Can You Trust A Personal Breathalyzers?

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Story Published: Dec 31, 2009 at 7:02 PM PDT

By Sade Malloy

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YAKIMA -- There will be plenty of people drinking around town and possibly hitting the road afterward. We found an over the counter breathalyzer that claims to be 99% accurate.

Yakima Police want you to keep off the roads but with personal breathalyzers gaining in popularity we wanted to see how accurate they really are.

First Check costs $ 10 and you can buy it right over the counter. It claims to be 99% accurate. This is how it works. You blow into the tube for 12 seconds, shake it and you'll get your results. Negative means you're alcohol level is below point 0-two.

We showed the product to Dennis Hubbard, a pharmacist at Terrace Village Pharmacy. Hubbard has had his doubts and doesn't sell the product in his store.

"If a person were counting on it and counting on it not getting them in trouble I would not put my dollars and cents on this."

We bought the test from Rite Aid and tried to get a comment from them on the popularity and it's effectiveness. Store policy won't allow them to comment.
But we found a lot of locals who had an opinion.

"It'll tell them that they'll be illegal to drive but are they going to pay attention to them," says Bob Powers, visiting Yakima.

Local police are paying attention to drunk driver's this New Year's Eve, and they've got concerns about this personal breathalyzer. Remember, police can give you a ticket for DUI even if you're below the .08 limit.

"If the police can show you're driving has been affected," says Capt. Greg Copeland, Yakima Police Department.

Drinking always affects your driving so don't hold your breath. Cops are pretty sure a personal breathalyzer won't save you from a bad decision.

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