In December 2009 the NHTSA released the report "Fatalities and Fatality Rates in Alcohol- Impaired-Driving Crashes by State, 2007-2008."

The report says that in 2008, as compared to 2007, the overall fatality rate declined from 1.36 to 1.25 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT), a decrease of 8%, and the alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate declined from 0.43 to 0.40 fatalities per 100 million VMT, a decrease of 7%. From 2007 to 2008, the alcohol-impaired-driving fatality rate declined in 40 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and remained the same or increased in the remaining 10 States. An alcohol-impaired-driving crash is defined as a crash involving at least one driver or motorcycle rider (operator) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher.

View the full report here

These results are encouraging, and the overall vehicle fatality rates for the first half (January-June) of 2009 look promising as well.

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Mohegan Sun Works to
Prevent Drunk Driving

The Mohegan Sun casino is taking steps to combat drunken driving and the changes will be evident next time you visit.

Following three DUI related deaths in 2009, both the Connecticut State Police and the Mohegan Tribe have stepped up DUI monitoring campaigns.

All casino employees have taken four-hour training courses for certification on alcohol awareness so that they know the signs of someone who is intoxicated.  An individual who is thought to be intoxicated will be taken to the lounge and offered a free Breathalyzer test.  If the individual is 'tagged' as intoxicated in the casino's computer system they won't be able drive home and can't puchase any alcoholic beverages at the casino for 24 hours.  They will however offer to call a cab for you.

Pretty cool idea of using technology to prevent intoxicated casino goers from driving drunk.

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Source: WFSB Channel 3 News, http://www.wfsb.com/news/21764054/detail.html

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We encourage you to leave expressive comments, let yourself be heard!

Smoking and Drinking

In every AlcoHAWK manual we state that you should wait 20 minutes after smoking, eating or drinking before testing.

We also have a list of precautions in each manual, one of these precautions reads "Do not blow smoke, food or liquid into the unit."  Why do we make such a big deal out of smoking before using your breathalyzer?  Because we want you to get the longest life possible out of your breathalyzer.  Failure to follow the instructions and precautions given in the manual can harm the sensor of your personal breathalyzer.

But, besides causing harm to the sensor itself (and your body) smoking can also affect your breathalyzer results because smoking causes a delay in alcohol absorbtion in your body.  So if you're drinking and smoking and are using a breathalyzer to monitor your BAC you could end up drinking more than you wanted to. Not good.

So please, in the future if you smoke, wait 20 minutes before using your breathalyzer.

You want a more technical explination? You can find an article¹ about the study in the highly respected British Medical Journal.

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¹ British Medical Journal; Cigarette smoking and rate of gastric emptying: effect on alcohol absorption

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Leave a comment if you please.

Gerald Gibson

A state trooper in northwest Ohio who was once honored for making the most DUI arrests has been charged with drunken driving.

A patrol spokesman says Gerald Gibson has taken a leave following his arrest last weekend.

He was most recently an investigator at the Allen Correctional Institution.

Gibson was off duty when police in the town of Waynesfield say he drifted left of center and then refused to take a breath test.

He was named 2002 trooper of the year in Lima and Mothers Against Drunk Driving honored him in 1997 for making the most drunken-driving arrests by a Lima trooper.

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Source: The Lima News, http://www.limaohio.com/news/trooper-43518-arrested-charge.html

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A sad and ironic twist in this man's career.  If you're innocent why wouldn't you submit to a breath test?  Getting a DUI is far worse than careless driving charge.

Got comments? Let us hear them!

Daniel Munoz

Daniel munoz, a 56-year-old man, told a judge he drove drunk despite a dozen convictions about the time his father died and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I had a lot of stuff on my mind, and I started drinking too much,” Daniel Munoz said Tuesday.

McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon told Munoz that alcoholics always would face triggers or stresses that they might use to justify drinking.

Condon sentenced Munoz to 10 years in prison for what a prosecutor said were his 13th and 14th drunken-driving convictions.

Munoz’ blood-alcohol level was 0.385 percent in the most recent incident.

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Source: Northwest Herald; http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/11/17/r_wrthi8bwrlcxur7wwlqodg/index.xml

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This drunk driver needs some real help! Perhaps 10 sober years will rehabilitate the man.

Comments? Type em' and submit em'!

Drunk driving is a problem we have all been touched by in one way or another, whether it is directly through a victim that was yourself, a friend or family member; or indirectly by reading a magazine article or watching the news.  Are you looking for a way to help eliminate drunk driving?

Here are 4 ways in which you can help:

Educate yourself. Do research on the web, read a book or a blog on the topic of drunk driving. In 2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). These deaths make up 31.6% of the total traffic fatalities in 2008. (Source: NHTSA, 2009)

Don't drink and drive. If you consume any alcohol, don't drive. If you are at a gathering, bar or restuarant have a friend, family member or taxi drive you home. If you drink at home, stay home.

Become a designated driver. If your friends like to drink, becoming the designated driver in your group could save their lives and the lives of others on the road.

Get involved. There are local and national activist groups and online communities with the goal of eliminating drunk driving. One of the largest activist groups is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. From there you can sign their pledge to eliminate drunk driving.

Got comments? We'd love to hear from you!

Hypoglycemia Symptoms

Los Angeles DUI lawyer Lawrence Taylor, known nationally as the "Dean of DUI Attorneys", claims that many citizens accused - and convicted - of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are actually innocent.  Their crime: diabetes.

Taylor, the author of the best-selling legal treatise Drunk Driving Defense, claims that the symptoms of a diabetic with hypoglycemia (low sugar level) resemble those of alcohol intoxication.  Further, he claims, diabetics have a chemical in their breath which causes breathalyzers to register high blood-alcohol levels.

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Source: Reuters; http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS79539+21-Sep-2009+PRN20090921

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This is important to note for all the diabetics out there, if you are comteplating purchasing a breathalyzer you should look at the fuel-cell models available.  A fuel-cell breathalyzer is not affected by the ketones present in those with diabetes so you will not get a false positive because of your condition.

Fortunately you can purchase a fuel-cell breathalyzer right here, take a look at the AlcoHAWK PT500 and decide if it is right for you.

Got comments? Let's hear em'!

Invented by Joe Saavedra, the SOBEaR is a teddy bear with a built-in Breathalyzer that the user must blow into befire receving a drink.  The SOBEaR calculates your BAC and serves an appropriate drink with it's motorized paws; the lower your BAC the higher the ratio of alcohol to mixer it will serve; too high and it gives you straight mixer with no alcohol.

An interesting party idea, but no replacement for a designated driver.

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Source: Brand X; http://www.thisisbrandx.com/2009/08/let-teddy-pour-you-a-drink-the-bartender-robot.html

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What are your thoughts?

A new supreme court ruling has made it so that the prosecution must make a lab technician available to testify in person if the defendant demands it. As a result, some cases already have been dismissed. One state, Virginia, has called a special legislative session to change its laws. And some lawyers think the ruling will continue to have a major effect.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court said that lab reports served as “witnesses” for the prosecution. And because the 6th Amendment gives defendants a right to "be confronted with the witnesses against him," Justice Antonin Scalia said that drug defendants and others were "entitled to be confronted with the [lab] analysts at trial."

Source: Los Angeles Times; http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-crime-labs26-2009jul26,0,420958.story

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What do you think about the supreme court's decision?

Recently a few people have asked us how to clean their AlcoHAWK breathalyzer.  Here is what we recommend:

Use of a mild disinfectant cleaner and a soft cloth on the outside of the case is recommended periodically to keep your unit clean. Do not use alcohol to clean the unit.

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You may ask "Why can't I use rubbing alcohol to clean the unit?" The answer: Because your breathalyzer is used to detect alcohol and if any traces of rubbing alcohol are still on the unit you may have skewed results when you perform a test.