New iPod Accessory Tests for Sobriety
Attorneys seeking holiday gift-giving ideas for friends and clients struggling with alcohol issues may wish to consider the latest iPod application.
An iPod with the addition of a new product known as the iBreath can be used like a Breathalyzer, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The $79 “blow wand” plugs into the base of the device and measures the amount of alcohol in the user’s breath. If it is .08 or higher—which is above the legal limit in all 50 states—an alarm sounds, the newspaper reports.
The new gadget is part of an increasing array of such technological advances concerning personal electronic devices. Others include Last Call, another new iPhone application that “provides a tool for estimating blood-alcohol content (as well as a list of attorneys who specialize in DUI arrests),” and a timed math test for the iPhone that is intended to prevent drinking and dialing.
However, Laura Dean-Mooney, the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is concerned that some young users could use such alcohol-measuring devices in a contest to determine who is drunkest, the Times article states. A safer approach to alcohol during social events, she urges, is to designate a sober driver who doesn’t drink at all or take public transportation.
