jgarvas wrote:How do you prevent someone from buying a can of compressed air and blowing it into the device, or having a third party do it? That seems to be hard to fool proof to me.
Can't....
I understand that some of these gadgets will randomly trigger, requiring the operator to pull over and re-start the car in a fairly short interval (rotsa ruck on freeways perhaps). That's supposed to discourage having a friend blow for you. The can of compressed air solution is equally simple. Outlaw cans of compressed air....
(That's make about as much sense as the MADD initiative.)
Maybe we should require that blowing into the device be done "in plain sight"?
Regards,
Stu.
(Why write a quick note when you can write a novel?)
(Why do those who claim to wish to protect me feel that the best way to do that is to disarm me?)
Stu's right. It goes off for a random retest anytime the engine is running. State law and NHTSA requires it to be set to randomly request a retest between 5-15 minutes after the vehicle is started, and every 25-45 minutes thereafter. Most competitor's models somewhat lack in the ability to detect bogus air samples compared to our device, in that they don't have a very good level of security to prevent such a thing. With the Guardian interlock, the device has a temperature sensor that requires the breath sample to be between 96-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, the pressure transducer is VERY finicky. It will only accept breath samples of the correct temperature between 1.3 and 1.6 PSI. Regulating compressed air at that temperature, at that pressure, for five consecutive seconds is so difficult, I'd find it hard (if not, impossible) to do sober, let alone under the influence. Most other devices use a variation of the same pressure transducer as we do, but to date, no one else has a thermister in place to detect breath temperature.
Edited to add:
As far as the third party blowing for the offender is concerned, there really is no definite way to prevent this. However, since the device asks for the random retest, you almost have to have that third party in the car with you. That being said, the common sense thing to do is just let them drive. Unless you're like one of my clients who bought himself 12 months in jail for being so stupid as to let his 9 year old daughter do it for him. HOWEVER, it was an older device which required a lesser volume of air. On the newer device we introduced in 04, I would find it difficult to believe a child has the lung capacity to do it. Alot of women even have trouble delivering a steady breath sample of the correct volume and pressure.
I didn't know such devices were actually in use... Then again, I've never gotten behind the wheel after so much as a sip... I don't get to see 'Judge Friendly' very often....
(I wasn't really for tossing these on ALL cars either, was just an example for the smoking ban crowd, of rights they MIGHT care about, that they could lose just as easily....)
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Am I the only one who views the random retest thing as being similar to a policeman disarming you during a TRAFFIC stop? I mean, they're on the expressway, their car just shuts off. Now they're wondering if their car died at 60 MPh, trying to merge while dragging, with the eventuality of being a stationary object in a river of steel and glass rushing by at high speeds...
"Moderation in the defense of liberty is no virtue." - Ann Coulter
"Liberalism is part of a religious disorder that demands a belief that life is controllable." - Ann Coulter
By their fruits ye shall know them.
No interlock has the ability to shut their car off, Dan. All it does is disable the starter. From the time it asks for a retest, it gives you 5 minutes to deliver a passing breath sample. Failure to do so results in the horn going off similarly to a car alarm, until the vehicle is shut off, and restarted with a clean breath sample. For those uncomfortable with doing it while driving, you have 5 minutes, so there is generally time to pull off an exit, or off to the side of the road and pass it. If, for some reason the engine were to die, you'd have one minute to restart it without having to pass another breath test. So it's not as unsafe as it sounds. People come in all the time saying, "That sounds unsafe." I always give the same reply. "Maybe it's not, but it's a hell of a lot safer than what got you in my office."
"Moderation in the defense of liberty is no virtue." - Ann Coulter
"Liberalism is part of a religious disorder that demands a belief that life is controllable." - Ann Coulter
By their fruits ye shall know them.
