New Device Cracks Down on Drunk Drivers - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

New Device Cracks Down on Drunk Drivers

From now if you are pulled over and accused of drunk driving, you won't only be asked to walk a straight line, but perhaps to blow into something called an Intoxilyzer.

It's a portable breath test, that fits into an officer's palm.  Officers will ask you to blow into it, if the suspect you are drinking and driving.  "It's gonna give us a reading and it's almost instant. So then the officer can look and say, I've got someone impaired, I need to take them off the street," explain officer Craig Murray.

Murray says this can be more dependable than a sobriety test. Once you break a traffic law you could be stopped.

"They'll say sir, ma'am, you need to step out of the car. I need you to follow these tests. I  need you to do this walk and turn. I  need you to blow into this, so I can get a determination on where you are, on that level," he said.

But do you have to take this test?

"The best advice I give to most people is, don't take any tests if you know you can't pass them," said Zach Smith, who calls himself the DUI Guy.

"If in fact you do blow into one of these things and it does register high, you are going to jail and you will need a lawyer," he explained.

Whether you take the quick and preliminary breath test, or not, you could still be forced to take the formal breath test, downtown. Refusing that one and your license would be suspended.

The goal is to protect you from drunk drivers. The best advice is to obey the law and save your breath for something else.

"Maybe that one person that thinks you know, I don't need to be driving after I've been drinking maybe they will take that hint and not do it," said Murray.

The police department spent about 300-dollars for each one of these, but you can buy one a similar one for yourself.