• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Car Breathalyzer Help

Car Breathalyzer Help

The One Stop Place For All Your Car Breathalyzer Needs!

  • Car Breathalyzer Device
  • Locations
  • State Laws
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • 888-958-8139

Could Lasers Be the Next Alcohol-Detecting Devices?

You are here: Home / General Information / Could Lasers Be the Next Alcohol-Detecting Devices?
June 19, 2014 by Editorial Staff

alcohol-detecting-deviceBreathalyzers have been the most technologically advanced alcohol-detecting devices for years. However, an alcohol-detecting device currently in development could further prevent drunk driving and alcohol-related crashes. Working as a supplement to breathalyzers, the powerful alcohol-detecting device could help catch drunk drivers before police officers even cross their path.

According to an article recently published by in the Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, researchers at the Military University of Technology in Poland have developed lasers that can detect the presence of alcohol vapors, like those exhaled by someone who’s been drinking, in a vehicle from a safe distance. The device detects alcohol by detecting subtle changes that occur in the laser beam as it passes through alcohol vapor.

Similar to technology that detects speeding drivers and red light runners, the laser system would be set up on the side of the road to monitor and take photos of each passing car. If the laser detects alcohol vapors in a car, a message and a photo of the car and its plate number will be sent to a police officer in a parked car down the road. Once the suspected drunk driver approaches, the police officer can stop the car and check for signs of impairment using field sobriety tests, a breathalyzer, and other conventional tests used to determine alcohol impairment.

BreathalyzerResearchers note that drivers could use solar screens on windows, among other methods, to deceive the successfully tested system. Foreseeing such situations, the researchers designed the laser system to also detect anything that prevents the laser from making its way into a vehicle. If such vehicles are detected, the system will pass the message along to the police officer down the road so that he or she can stop the vehicle to check for alcohol or an impaired driver.

While the alcohol-detecting laser device won’t eliminate drunk driving, it could potentially deter people from driving while impaired and prevent alcohol-related crashes by acting as a tool to help police officers better enforce drunk driving laws. The alcohol-detecting system would also reduce the number of cars police officers need to pull over, something that would come in especially handy at sobriety checkpoints.

In the next stages of the laser system’s development, researchers will test out what happens when a car’s air conditioning or fans are running and perhaps even create a compact, user-friendly laser device.

Category: General Information, Resources

About Editorial Staff

The editorial staff is a group of writers and contributors with wide-ranging areas of expertise. The editorial staff provides news and analysis of topics that are focused on community and driver safety.

Previous Post:Are Hands-Free Devices Really Less Distracting?
Next Post:Washington Faces Funding Shortage for Car Breathalyzer Installation

Installation Calls

Speak to our friendly and knowledgeable staff to get answers to your questions and to schedule your Ignition Interlock Device Installation.

Call Today

Interlock Basics

Car Breathalyzer Device

State Laws

FAQs

Resource Library

Installation

Service Centers

Contact

Call Toll-Free

888-958-8139

© Copyright 2023 Car Breathalyzer Help

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy