Laboratory Testing of Two Prototype In-Vehicle Breath Test Devices
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Laboratory Testing of Two Prototype In-Vehicle Breath Test Devices

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English
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  • Creators:
    Frank, James F.
  • Corporate Creators:
    United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Research and Development
  • Contributors:
    Flores, A.
  • Subject/TRT Terms:
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  • DOI:
  • Resource Type:
    Tech Report
  • Geographical Coverage:
    United States
  • Corporate Publisher:
    United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  • Abstract:
    This report presents the results of laboratory testing of two recently developed prototype in-vehicle breath test devices. These devices are designed to prevent persons with alcohol on their breath from driving a car. The devices tested were the SOBERLYZER and the ALCOHOL BREATH IGNITION CONTROLLER (A.B.I.C.). In addition to alcohol sensors, these devices have features built into them to check whether the sample being introduced is a true breath sample. The SOBERLYZER has a temperature sensor designed to check whether the sample being introduced is the same temperature an a human breath.. The A.B.I.C. has a pressure switch designed to check whether the force activating the system is as strong as a human breath. The SOBERLYZER distinguished 100% of the time between simulated breath alcohol samples. above and below a threshold between 0.015%-0.020% BAC. The actual threshold was about 0.015% BAC below the 0.025% BAC level reported by the manufacturer. The range of temperatures within which the SOBERLYZER allowed us to start a car was much wider (75-1000F) than reported by the manufacturer (89-98°F), and proved relatively easy to satisfy. The alcohol sensor of the A.B.I.C. distinguished between simulated breath samples above and below a threshold of 0.050% BAC. However, this measured threshold was half the concentration reported by the manufacturer (0.05% vs. 0.10% BAC). Regarding the breath pressure required to activate the A.B.I.C., it proved to be so great that an average person must blow as hard as he/she can to satisfy it. This research also demonstrated that bogus, substitute breath samples could be introduced into either in-vehicle device to "fool" the system. In the case of the SOBERLYZER, alcohol could also be easily filtered out of breath samples before they were blown into the device to "fool" the system. Strategies that filter alcohol from breath samples could not be tested on the A.B.I.C. because available equipment could not produce enough pressure to activate the A.B.I.C.'s pressure switch. Only one prototype unit of each device was tested in this research project. Therefore, it is inappropriate to generalize these results to all current and future units. This evaluation is neither an endorsement of, nor an objection to product development in this area. Nevertheless, the findings should be useful to those who are attempting to develop practical in-vehicle breath test devices. /Abstract from report summary page/
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