Localities may one day issue tickets for the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) by mail. The Russian firm Laser Systems has developed Alcolaser, a device that uses lasers to remotely detect the presence of alcohol vapors in an automobile. The Alcolaser is available in either in the form of a handheld gun the size of a police radar or in a mounted version designed to work from a moving police car.
The device takes about half-a-second to scan an automobile. According to the manufacturer, the laser has a range of 65 feet and can test vehicles moving at up to 75 MPH. Laser Systems claims that Alcolaser can detect amounts as small as a quart of beer or 3.5 ounces of vodka without being fooled by other sources of ethanol that might be present in a passenger compartment.
An individual with a blood alcohol content of 0.10 would on average exhale enough alcohol vapors to bring the level in a car with the windows closed to 3 parts per million within 30 minutes. The level would be lower in a vehicle with the ventilation system active. Alcolaser takes advantage of spectroscopy, through which light hitting a specific type of molecule is scattered in a specific way. The shift in the energy content of the light differs based on the type of molecule hit, allowing one to detect the presence of a particular substance.
The method used would be incapable of distinguishing between a sober driver and a drunk passenger. It would also be fooled by beer spilled in the passenger compartment. Despite the limitations, the device has been demonstrated at a number of international trade shows and the Russian police are reportedly interested in testing the equipment. The firm already supplies a number of products to various branches of the Russian government.
[Courtesy:Thenewspaper.com]
neat but how does that work if the driver is sober and the front passenger is totally sloshed?
While that situation is something to aspire to, it is unfortunately often not the case. Usually if there’s alcohol involved, there are three passengers that are totally wasted, and then the driver, who’s ‘less drunk’.
I can’t see there being any way this is any sort of reliable indicator of ‘drunk driving’. It’s fooled by short time, ventilation systems being on, and yet they say it can distinguish between a drunk driver and a designated driver?
I wouldn’t take the idea of DUI-tickets-by-mail too seriously… any lawyer in any democratic society would rip it to shreds. But as a tool in making random checks more effective (and less random), this technology sounds like it has potential.
My only question is, will it allow more drug users to escape detection as police officers become dependent on the new technology? The argument has been made that police work is a lost art; that the modern cop is little more than a data processing clerk who hides behind a laptop computer and other gadgets. This would seem like another step in that direction.
I can’t see it being like speed cameras where you would receive your ticket in the mail, just in case the driver IS sober and the passenger passed out. Instead it could be used to establish probable cause, and help cops better focus on the cars that are being driven by drunks, and pull them over for a closer look.
can test vehicles moving at up to 75 MPH
News flash. Russian drunks now all drive 85mph.
Establishing probable cause to pull a car over may be a sensible use of this technology in the West.
Do Russians care about probable cause?
If nothing else, this could be used to establish probable cause for a stop. Anything that will ticket a designated driver can’t have much stronger of a use.
Although, I have to smirk at any technology that can be defeated by rolling the windows down. Maybe they are too drunk to remember to crack a window?
Another news flash: More drunks driving convertibles than ever before.
Another triumph for Big Government in bed with Big Business
It would also be fooled by beer spilled in the passenger compartment.
In Soviet Union, beer spills you?
I’d be very surprised if this technology is ever used on more than a trial basis, and even that is unlikely.
I’m driving with my windows down and wearing a mask from now on.