San Diego’s hand-held breath test gadgets used to have DUI suspects blow in the field are getting pretty old. Attorneys have already established how unreliable and untrustworthy the Alco-Sensor III and IV are.
A county to the north of San Diego and Los Angeles now has new high-tech gadgets to use as part of their field sobriety testing. Preliminary Alcohol Screening tests are FST’s by law in California.
Intoximeter’s Inc. unleashed Alco-Sensor V @ POA (point of arrest) devices in Ventura County. The Alco-Sensor IV, challenged for 8 years, will be sold on E-bay.
The device is similar to former models that require a person suspected of intoxication to breathe into a hand-held sensor, but the new version is considered easier and safer to use by officers.
“It has an enhanced visual display, and that allows the officer to see it better,” DUI lawyer prosecution team players say.
“The orientation of the display is more natural.”
Older Alco-Sensors make Drunk Driving cops stand sideways while collecting breath samples.
With the new device, “it’s easier to know the subject has given the required amount of breath,” they suggest.
An advantage is data can be entered with one hand, eliminating the need to place the device on a flat surface and we know dui cops love to give FST’s on non-flat surfaces.
Data from the BAC estimating gadgets can be uploaded into an database that allows the person under arrest to obtain their estimated breath test results from a website. Click here to find out more!
The gadget has a printer that allows the officer to immediately print test results. California DUID officers will print three copies of the test results— one for the person being tested, one for the officer’s report and one to be retained at the laboratory.