Published: Friday, 12th March, 2010 2:56pm

Sobering good sense

by Judith Edwards

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At a recent press event held by the makers of the breathalyser, AlcoSense, of the 11 revellers tested the next morning, nine of them were positive.

One of the participants was Adam Rayner, motoring journalist for BBC News and the demonstration shows how long it takes for alcohol to pass through the system before you are legally safe to drive.

Hunter Abbott CEO of AlcoSense™ said: "People are vastly underestimating just how much alcohol they have consumed. The only way to tell if the alcohol has left your system is to use an accurate personal breathalyser."

The AlcoSense breathalyser measures the concentration of alcohol vapour which evaporates from the blood as it passes through the lungs when breathing.

The amount of alcohol measured is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol in the person's bloodstream making it possible to accurately judge the level of intoxication. When you drink, alcohol is absorbed into the blood through the stomach and small intestine. The more you drink the more is absorbed.

When you stop drinking, the level of intoxication may stay constant or if you have been drinking heavily it could increase for around two hours after.

For this reason the manufacturer of the product does not recommend the use of this breathalyser immediately after a person has finished drinking as there are so many factors that influence the reading. The ideal time is the morning after.

Katie Shephard, fundraising manager at BRAKE, the national road safety charity, said: "AlcoSense's research demonstrates a shocking lack of knowledge and suggests that there are far too many drivers who are taking a massive risk by driving with alcohol in their bloodstream.

"Drivers are often unaware how long it takes to sober up, which is why one in six drink-driving convictions happen the morning after. Drink-driving is unacceptable and I'd urge all drivers to never risk their lives, and other road users' lives, by drink driving."

Facts: On average 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink drive collisions.

Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit and 17% of all drink drive prosecutions are in the morning and half a million breath tests are carried out each year and around 100,000 are found to be positive. Forty per cent of people are estimated to have driven the morning after, unaware they are still over the drink drive limit

The legal limit in the UK is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. (0.80‰ BAC). There is no failsafe guide as to how much you can drink and stay under the limit. It depends on many factors including the type of alcoholic drink, your weight, sex, age, food intake and metabolism

Alcohol affects your ability to judge speed and distances and increases your reaction times dramatically. People who drive at twice the legal alcohol level are 50 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash

Legal penalties include a minimum 12 month driving ban, up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000. An endorsement for a drink-driving offence stays on your licence for 11 years. Nearly one in five convicted drink-drivers are caught the morning after drinking and 51% of people who drive the morning after a moderate night out are completely unaware they are likely to still be over the legal drink-drive limit.

The slim and easy to use entry level AlcoSense One costs £24.99. To do a breath test you turn the unit on, wait for it to count down to zero, then blow until it beeps and it shows your reading. It is the lowest priced product to be approved by the US Dept of Transport Standard for Hand Held Breathalysers.

The US Dot Approval process includes hundreds of accuracy tests and the US shares the same drink drive limit as the UK, but currently no UK approval process exists.

The unit weighs just 66 grams, including batteries, and you can use it anywhere. Contact: 0800 195 0088 or go to www.alcosense.co.uk