Breathalyzer

Russia is considering fitting cars with devices that breathalyse drivers to clamp down on drink driving and is looking at ways to encourage manufacturers to install them in vehicles fresh off the production line. Russia has for years been trying to improve road safety and, though official statistics show the situation improving, around 17,000 Russians died on the country's roads last year, much higher than in many other countries. Installing alcohol interlocks would introduce new costs for car

Right now, it's just a proof of concept, but there are plans to put it into the hands of police.

New York is considering a bill that would allow police to carry a textalyzer, a device that detects if a driver was using their phone before a crash.

Ignition locks that incorporate an alcohol detector are being developed around the world, to combat drunk driving. Honda and Hitachi have fitted the breathalyzer inside an automobile smart key to make testing more convenient.

A team of chemists at Washington State University is working with Chemring on a drugalyzer than can detect the amount of marijuana in the bloodstream.

A police station in Florida released footage of a reckless drunk driver spilling out of his car unable to stand last weekend as a warning to other drivers.

With cannabis now legal in some form or another in nearly half of the US, states and private companies alike are scrambling for a means of adapting DUI legislation to weed.

Thanks to the UK's Home Office approving a "drugalyzer" kit last month, roadside drug testing began over the Christmas holiday last year and will be introduced throughout England and Wales this year.

The Breeze is a tiny, personal breathalyzer that syncs with your smartphone to estimate when you might be sober again. If you don't feel like waiting around, the app can also hail a cab, contact Uber, call a designated driver, show nearby restaurants and even find a local hotel to sleep things off.

A man in Rhode Island with an apparently inexhaustible supply of cars and alcohol went on a two-day drunk-driving bender which ended with four crashed vehicles, four DUI charges and three trips to the hospital.

There could be additional crackdowns on first-time drunk drivers if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gets its way. The regulatory body wants all states to fit alcohol-detecting ignition interlocks the first time someone is charged with drunk driving in order to prevent them from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated again.

According to stats compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about a third of all traffic fatalities involved someone officially classified as driving under the influence – and that percentage goes back at least a decade. No surprise then that various inventions, from Jonathon Ramsey

It's taken three years but the Great Britain is finally ready to introduce laws to make driving while impaired by illegal and legal drugs against the law. While Britain's Home Office waitied for approval of a mobile drug-testing unit – currently drug testing is done at the police station – ministers have been working on the details of the law to fall under the Crime, Communications

According to the UK Telegraph, Britain's government is no longer willing to let those who have illegal drugs in their system slip through any more checkpoints. It has let the Department of Transportation know that it is looking at creating a new law that would ensnare anyone with illegal drugs in their systems, as well as those whose driving is impaired by using legal, medicinal drugs such as sleeping pills.

This is the JATY DR7200 GPS, and it does a lot more than just tell you where you are and how to get where you're going on that 7-inch screen. You see, it's got an integrated breathalyzer, too, so it'll also tell you whether you should even be trying to get where you're going. Blow "over" and you get a standard BAC readout, a red "OVER" warning, and if that's not enough, a yellow skull and crossbones to drive home the point that, well, you really shouldn't be driving at all. In addition

Swedish researchers have discovered that a low-calorie diet can register a false positive on certain in-car ignition interlock devices that disable a vehicle if alcohol is detected on one's breath. The anomaly was discovered when a non-drinking airplane pilot reported the incident. Turns out the man was on a very restrictive diet that had him losing weight rapidly, which is what may have caused the false reading. As reported in the latest issue of the International Journal of Obesity, m

Of course, just like any sane person would be, we at Autoblog are totally against drunk driving. There have been a few technological nannies cropping up of late lately to help combat the problem, including breathalyzers mounted in vehicles that are wired to the ignition circuit. Thise devices won't allow your car to start until you've passed the test. We won't weigh in on whether these are a good idea or not at this time (personal rights or the rights o