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Show Too Drunk To Drive? New Machine IYlay Tell You stop into the bar with some friends for "a drink" but the conversation gets interesting and the bartender keeps pouring. AFTER several drinks you realize' it's time to go home, but has your ability lo drive been impaired by the alcohol? Might you be subject to arrest? In some bars you'll be able lo go to a machine, inserl a coin and take a test which will Hive you a reading on the lovel of alcohol in your system sys-tem . AFTER GIVING the readout read-out in percentages, the display board will then give ou one of three messages: 'Don't Drive!", "Take It Easy!" or "You're OK!" These machines still are scarce (they cost almost $K00) , but their popularity is ex-, ex-, peeled to increase because of the novelty and because of ' growing concern over the role ' alcohol plays in highway r deaths. THE Automotive Informa- ' turn Council points out that ' about one-half of all highway ' deaths involves alcohol. This means that about 22,000 r people a year die in alcohol-k alcohol-k related crashes. And about one-half of those are innocent ' victims who had not been ' drinking. Safety officials note that too many who drink are unaware r that they cannot handle a car us well as they could had they r not been drinking. k "IT (the alcohol) just ' creeps up on you and you don't realize how it slows your reaction time, while at the , same time causing you to become reckless," says one expert. Testing on the machine will lell the driver what he might not realize. AFTER inserting the coin, the user receives a throwaway plastic tube from the machine. The user then blows into the unit, and the electronic elec-tronic gear is set into motion. I he readouts are provided in seconds. Other versions now are being be-ing purchased by police departments for on-scene testing of suspects. THIS TREND, too. is expected ex-pected to grow. But use of the unit in the bar by a driver might keep him or her from being slopped and tested by police, says the Automotive Information Infor-mation Council if the driver "obeys" the machine. |