New phone app soon available to help prevent DWI arrests
Why do you love your cellphone? Is it the camera that you are obsessed with? Is it the music options or GPS navigation that you are addicted to? Well, technology wizards have a new reason why some might want to kiss their cellphones — or blow into them at least.
Reuters reports that in October, there will be a relatively affordable cellphone app that makers believe can save people from driving drunk. The breath test app costs a reported $49 and will be available online for download for those with iPhones or Android devices.
When it comes to the scary prospect of DWI, however, it is important that drivers understand the fallibility of technology in many cases. For example, history shows that not even the police-grade Breathalyzer tests are fail-proof. They create false readings and get people into legal trouble all of the time.
What does that mean in regards to breath test apps? There are various ideas to keep in mind.
The creators of the new app warn drivers not to drive if their phones tell them that have any alcohol in their systems. Since the legal limit in Tennessee and across the country is 0.08, many drivers might use the app, see the reading as 0.07, for example, and believe that they are okay to drive and couldn’t be arrested for the suspicion of DUI. An arrest could still happen, particularly if law enforcement’s tests give a different reading than the suspect’s app.
No matter what technology options are available and what devices might tell you, a DWI defense lawyer is the most invaluable tool toward avoiding the severe penalties that come with a drunk driving conviction.
Source: Reuters, “Feeling tipsy? New apps read blood alcohol levels, hail a taxi,” Natasha Baker, Sep. 16, 2013