Are Personal Breathalyzers Accurate? | Fox 2 Detroit Investigates

FOX 2 Detroit and Allen Park police teamed up for a study including five people drinking alcohol to test a BACtrack C6 keychain breathalyzer and a breathalyzer by competitor AlcoHawk against the police-issued machines to see just how accurate personal breathalyzers actually are.

Over three hours, they tested each machine three times on everyone. They also added some field sobriety tests as the group started to blow just over .08.

After seven or eight drinks, they started to blow levels two and three times over the legal limit. Then, the results were in.

"The smaller keychain alcohol sensor was almost exactly where ours was - which was surprising," said Allen Park Police Detective Jim Thorburn.

Every single time, the numbers were within a tenth of a point compared to the police PBTs.

The other made by Alcohawk was not as reliable.

[CanadianBakinO]

"I would defiantly not go behind a vheicle. Woa woah hello"

[SeaMonkey]

Blow my drinking habits directly into my spyware-laden smart phone? No way.

[markpiersall]

You should have tested their coordination at .05 blood alcohol content. The national transportation safety board recommended.05 BAC in 2009, however only Utah has implemented them.

[aliassmithandjones]

fun fact- you can blow less than the legal limit but still be arrested if the officer considers you impaired.

[MKJADED]

“A chance to drink with the police” oldest trick in the book. Where tf did they get those cops

[patrickmurphy]

the BACtrack can be great although they will be needed to calibrated eventually but just using one makes you more aware of what over and under feel like

[jmrub]

Really? A study involving only two personal breathalyzer units. It would be more legitimate if they did three or four. Sounds like they are really pushing the BAC track unit. Must be getting some kickback for this.

[TeganBurns]

That cost benefit perspective convinced me. Going to order mine now!

[garynelson]

If you have a CDL, it’s gonna cost you $10, 000 to get it reduced. Do not Drink&Drive

[jrey]

Nice ... sponsored news cast or infomercial?

[AmisH-qh]

Alcohols a good, drug coincidentally an unscheduled drug...🤔

[adrianschoensted]

This shit has to be sponsored, why would the conclusion of the "study" almost seemed like an ad. They didn't mention one drawback of having a personal breath analyzer. That being said imma buy one, but for a drinking game.

[cameronmegaw]

guy blew a .179 he aint driving anytime soon

[HRCISASKNK]

Drink with police LOL the police drink and drive ALL the time believe me I retired after 26 years a I know EXACTLY what they do!

[katman]

🤣🤣🤣 almost got me !!, almost believed the video then i saw its actually the company "bactrack"s actual youtube page 🤣🤣🤣 biased af tryna sell their product

[renewagain]

Make no mistake... This was NOT a study, or an "investigation". This was a blatant and dishonest ad, through and through.

... And I say that as someone who has owned and used multiple BACtrack breathalyzers since 2013.

[PeterSedesse]

There are online charts where you can enter your sex and weight... and basically tells you how many you can have. Its not magic. Neither is anyone 'better' than anyone else. It is almost strictly determined by weight and sex. That is for BAC, which is all that matters. Certainly some people can handle their BAC better than others, but that isn't going to keep you out of jail.