Two new apps for iPhones (AAPL) and Android (GOOG) smartphones are doing what you’d rather have done yourself than by a police officer: They quickly tests a user’s blood alcohol level — and even call the person a cab if needed.
The apps — Breathometer, for iPhones and Android smartphones, and BACtrack, for iPhones – read a person’s alcohol levels via a smartphone-connected breathalyzer.
From Reuters:
The Breathometer plugs into a smartphone’s headphone jack, and the user blows on the device. The BACtrack connects to the iPhone via Bluetooth. Both use sensors that meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards and can detect blood alcohol levels with accuracy within 0.01 percent, according to the companies.
Breathometer’s breathalyzer is the size of a car key and fits into a pocket or on a key chain. The app can detect a user’s GPS location, order a cab if the user can’t drive home, and estimate how long it will take for the user to become sober.
The Breathometer app (and device) will cost $49 and debut online in October.
Both apps claim they will help cut down on the number of arrests each year for drunk driving.
Some 1.2 million people in the U.S. were arrested in 2011 for driving under the influence, according to data compiled by the FBI.
Breathalyzers have been used by law enforcement since the 1950s.
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