CDOT offering options to combat St. Patty’s Day DUI’s
Some new technology can help those celebrating this St. Patty’s Day weekend from making an error in judgment.
If you have a smartphone, you’re halfway there.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has helped design a smartphone breathalyzer, available for purchase at Best Buy for about $100.
The breathalyzer calculates your blood alcohol content, or BAC, within seconds.
Another option, according to CDOT, is their new free app called “R U Buzzed.”
“You just enter your weight, your gender, how many drinks you’ve had, and over what time period. It will tell you approximately what your BAC is,” explained Sam Cole, CDOT spokesman.
The legal state BAC limit is .05%. But Cole warns that just one drink can put you in danger when it comes to getting behind the wheel, and the safest option is to find a sober driver.
“What a lot of people don’t know is you can still be arrested even if you aren’t over the .05 legal limit because alcohol affects all of us very differently,” added Cole.
Last year, there was a 14% increase surrounding the Irish holiday, amounting to 505 arrests. There were also more than 20 deaths in Colorado last March due to drinking and driving.