Over the last three years, 40% of all automobile related fatalities are alcohol related. Last year this resulted in over 16,000 deaths. 70% of these accidents are caused by drivers at, or just over the legal limit.

In my mind there are two categories of people who drive drunk:

1. Complete idiots

These people know they are over the limit, yet they drive anyway. Sadly, I don’t have a lot of ideas for how to fix this category. The best I can do is hope that these people hit a brick wall and kill themselves before they kill innocent people or trees. It is a failure of Darwin’s principles that these people have lived long enough to learn to drive a car, and a failure of mankind that we allow these people into cars. I suppose we could build more brick walls, but I’m not sure that would have the desired effect.

2. The uncalibrated

A shocking number of automobile fatalities are alcohol related — in 2005 it was just under 40%. Your might think these accidents came from drivers who were really drunk — alcoholics, or more succinctly, “people not like me.” The opposite is true. The most dangerous drivers are those who have enough dexterity to get the car going, but not enough judgement to make good decisions while driving. Studies have shown as many as 70% of all alcohol related deaths came from drivers under .15. People leaving dinner parties, sporting events, or movie night. People like you. Do you know how you feel when you have a blood alcohol level of .08? I bet you don’t.

When I’m feeling pessimistic about the human race, I feel like many of the drunk driving accidents fall into the first category of complete idiots. But after I’ve had a couple cups of coffee and a Bloody Mary, I start to optimistically think maybe a bigger problem is the lack of a reference frame. Most programs I hear about refer to drinking and driving education as “awareness.” But I’ve never heard about a program that focuses on educating people on how they feel at .08.

Once I go down this path I start to think maybe we could impact this problem by saturating the world with breathalysers. What if everybody had one in their car? Their home? What if every bar had one at the exit? Heck, maybe even complete idiots would think twice if they had a gadget telling them their actual blood alcohol level. I have heard of efforts to link breathalysers to all car ignition systems, which gets obvious push back from consumers and car manufacturers. What if we tried a less invasive route? Skip the national TV ad spot showing the gruesome accident — send out 100,000 breathalysers.

TV, Internet, and print advertising for breathalysers is fundamentally flawed. The advertisements always take the “avoid the DUI” approach, showing drivers pulled over, or in the back of a police car. This imagery makes it feel like it is a product for heavy drinkers — people with a problem. Advertisers should show a quiet dinner party, with guests passing the breathalyser around, surprised at their BAC.

A couple years ago I asked for (and got) a breathalyser for my birthday. Owning one has been really interesting and a ton of fun[1]. It never fails to result in interesting conversation, and it is rare that when I mention it, I don’t end up getting it out of the car for everybody to try[2].

For me, the legal limit felt tipsier than I expected and I feel unaffected up until .04. Blood alcohol levels between .04 and .1 feel fairly similar. So .04 already feels like I shouldn’t drive and it is hard to tell the difference between .04 and .1. That being said, after a lot of practice I can usually guess my BAC plus or minus one hundredth of a point.

If you drink, even casually, and have the means, you should own a breathalyser. Do everybody a favor — buy one now[3].

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[1] When I tell people I got a breathalyser for my birthday I get a lot of funny looks. I know it sounds like a present you get for somebody as as part of an intervention. This alone is a good reason to have one.

[2] I’m pretty sure this isn’t intended use, but sometimes bringing the breathalyser to a gathering results in a contest for who can get a higher reading.

[3] I would recommend the AlcoMate but there are many choices which will work.