CDOT study focuses on whether portable breathalyzers may prevent DUIs.

CDOT study focuses on whether portable breathalyzers may prevent DUIs.

Knowledge can be a great source of power. Looking to see just how this adage may affect drivers’ choices, regulators at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) are currently carrying out a DUI study to see just how knowledge of BAC levels may impact motorists’ transportation choices.

Specifically, this study will monitor how drivers, who have been provided with portable breathalyzer devices, decide when to drive or not drive, based on their BAC levels.

CDOT is hoping that this study will:

  • Provide great insight regarding when motorists may be more (or less) willing to get behind wheel after driving
  • Underscore the fact that driving after even just a few drinks can be risky – and can have deadly consequences
  • Deter impaired driving, lower DUI arrest rates in the state, and prevent fatal DUI crashes.

Details of the Study

Kicked off earlier this month, this study, which involves a partnership between CDOT and BACtrack (a company that makes breathalyzer devices), will be focusing on 200 participants, who are reportedly volunteers selected at random.

Each participant has been supplied with a portable breathalyzer device (a “BACtrack Mobile breathalyzer unit”) that operates via smartphones.

Over the next month or so, these participants will reportedly be asked to complete three online, anonymous surveys (that take about 15 minutes to complete) in order to evaluate:

  • How and when they have used the portable breathalyzers
  • Whether having and/or using these devices has affected their choices to drive after drinking alcohol (or using other impairing substances).

“This is a unique opportunity for both participants and CDOT to gain insights about drinking tendencies, and to see how a breathalyzer can improve decision-making,” CDOT Communications Manager Sam Cole has explained in relation to this effort.

The findings of this study, which may be used to develop CDOT anti-impaired driving campaigns in the future, are expected to be available in September. When CDOT releases those findings, we’ll report the results to you here. Until then, let us know what you think about this study, as well as portable breathalyzers, in the comments below, as well as on social media.

Contact a Boulder DUI Attorney at Peter Loyd Weber & Associates

Have you or a loved one been charged with a DUI? If so, an experienced Boulder DUI attorney at Peter Loyd Weber & Associates is ready to immediately start defending you. Committed to protecting your constitutional rights throughout the criminal process, our lawyers have the skills, experience and insight you can count on for effective, aggressive advocacy while we work diligently to achieve favorable resolutions to your case.

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Categories: DUI, DUI Accidents, DUI News