Citation

Picton WR. Proc. Int. Counc. Alcohol Drugs Traffic Safety Conf. 1981; 1981: 1329-1340.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, The author(s) and the Council, Publisher International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Coin operated self-testers used in liquor dispensing premises are supposed to reveal a drinkers' alcohol concentration (BAC) in the hope that this information will influence driving behavior. Such information is of particular relevance in those jurisdictions which have legislative limits for permissible bac's in drivers. The capability of the devices to provide reliable and accurate information should be established prior to any judgment about the efficacy or the devices as an impaired driving countermeasure. This study examines a commercial model of the alcohol-guard (1977) in a laboratory setting. Alcohol-water vapours were used to test the accuracy and precision of BAC measurement. Statistical procedures revealed a high correlation between expected and obtained results over the 0 to 200 mg % range of simulated BAC. Actual and simulated breath alcohol samples were used to examine the effects of interrupted and prolonged sampling, stability of calibration of the device over time, and the residual effect of previous sampling. Interrupted and prolonged sampling interfered with accurate measurement of BAC. Deficiencies in the sampling system were easily overcome for the course of the experiments by the intervention of an operator. With this intervention 88% of blood analysis and 94% of breathalyzer analysis from human subjects were within plus or minus 20 mg % of the alcohol-guard BAC measurements. (Author/TRRL)