Pocket-sized breathalyser hits Irish market
Peter Walsh, 33, from Cork, the 1999 Benelux Formula Ford Zetec champion, said he hopes the device will help improve road safety in Ireland.
“Even if this saves one life a year, it will be worth it for us,” he said.
“People shouldn’t drink and drive but some do. This is a good tool for monitoring your drinking. It’s pretty accurate but it’s a guideline only and cannot be used as a legal defence in court. But it is very effective.”
Mr Walsh, a co-director of the Kartworld Adventure Centre in Watergrasshill, spotted the device at an international trade show.
Then spurred on by the introduction in France of a new law earlier this year, which makes it compulsory for drivers to carry a breathalyser kit, he set up a company called Drive Safety. The company sought and acquired the licence to distribute the product in Ireland.
While most of the cheaper breathalyser kits on sale here are single-use and disposal, the battery-powered key-chain breathalyser, made in China, is reusable.
It has been calibrated for Irish blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits, and uses green, yellow and red lights to indicate whether a person is over a particular BAC limit or not.
But gardaí said their advice was simple: don’t drink and drive. And they stressed their roadside and station-based breathalysers are calibrated regularly, and are ultimately the only ones that matter in a court of law.
* The key-chain breathalyser, which costs €14.99 with free shipping to anywhere in the world, can be ordered at www.drivesafety.ie
