Breathalyzers

Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. It is illegal in all jurisdictions within the U.S.. more...

Home
12-Volt Portable Appliances
Car Alarms & Security
Car Amplifiers
Car Audio In-Dash Units
Car CD Changers
Car Speakers & Speaker...
Car Subwoofers & Enclosures
Car Video & Navigation
GPS Devices
Gadgets & Other Electronics
Air Purifiers
Batteries & Chargers
Breathalyzers
Calculators
Clocks
Dictionaries & Translators
eBooks
Flashlight Key Chains
Fresnel Lenses
Home Automation
Language Filters
Laser Pointers
Laserdisc Players
Metal Detectors
Other Gadgets
Polygraphs
Radiation Detectors
RF Locators
Surveillance
Therapeutic Devices
Timers
Voltage Converters
Weather Devices
WebTV
Installation Products
Other Car Audio & Video
PDAs/Handheld PCs
Parts & Accessories
Radar, Laser Detectors
Signal Processors
Vintage Electronics
Wholesale Car Audio Lots
Wholesale Lots

u= The specific criminal offense is usually called driving under the influence (DUI), and in some states driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while impaired (OWI), or operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI). Such laws may also apply to boating or piloting aircraft.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 17,013 people died in 2003 in "alcohol-related" collisions, representing 40 percent of total traffic deaths in the United States. Over 500,000 people were injured in alcohol-related accidents in the US in 2003. "Alcohol-related" is defined to include any driver, passenger or pedestrian involved in a fatal crash who has any trace of alcohol or suspicion of alcohol usage. According to the NHTSA, no other country uses these criteria in their statistical computations.

Laws

All states in the U.S. designate a "per se" blood or breath alcohol level as the threshold point for an independent criminal offense. A second criminal offense of driving "under the influence" or "while impaired" is also usually charged in most states, with a presumption of guilt where the person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is .08% or greater (units of milligrams per deciliter, representing 8 g of alcohol in 100 deciliters of blood). Some states include a lesser charge — often known as driving while impaired — at a BAC of, for example, .05% or above but less than the legal limit for the more serious charge. Prior to wider emphasis on drinking and driving in the 1980s, standards of .10-.12% were in place. The legal limit for aircraft pilots and commercial drivers in the U.S. is set at 0.04%. All states also observe a much stricter standard for drivers under the age of 21, commonly of .01-.02%; these are often referred to as "Zero Tolerance" laws.

Unlike DUI cases that involve alcohol, there is no "per se" or legal limit that is employed for persons accused of driving under the influence of prescription medication or illicit drugs. Instead, the key inquiry focuses on whether the driver's faculties were impaired by the substance that was consumed. The detection and successful prosecution of drivers impaired by prescription medication or illegal drugs is therefore quite difficult. Similarly, although urinalysis toxicology screens can detect the presence of such substances in the driver's bloodstream, these analyses are unable to demonstrate that the substance was actually causing impairment at the time of driving. In response to these problems, several jurisdictions are currently considering legislation that would establish "zero tolerance" laws for those drivers arrested for DUI and found to have drugs or medication in their system. Additionally, breathalyzers have been developed for the purpose of administering roadside or laboratory tests that can detect the actual level of a controlled substance in an individual's body.

Read more at Wikipedia.org