Today hundreds of ignition interlock device manufacturers make small, portable breathalyzer units that much more accurate and cost as little as $20 each. This enables law enforcement officers to give breathalyzer tests out in the field and the average person can easily purchase an interlock device for their own personal use.

In most states you are considered intoxicated if you drive while your BAC level is over 0.08%, however some states have the limit as high as 0.1%. For the average person it takes an hour to process one drink, so if you have 3 drinks putting you over the limit it will take approximately one hour to put you back into the 2 drink range and up to 3 hours to bring your BAC back down to 0.00%.

With regards to IID Los Angeles officials explains that alcohol affects different people in different ways. A person who drinks everyday may be able to function perfectly fine with a BAC of 0.1%, while another person of the exact same age, weight, size, and stomach composition who rarely drinks might be falling all over the place with a BAC of 0.1%. Your BAC level has absolutely nothing to do with your tolerance of alcohol. The BAC level was set to account for the average person, not the person with an insanely high tolerance who drinks a case a night and two on the weekends. So many people are totally shocked to realize how high their BAC is after just a few drinks. You must blow hard to get an accurate reading from a breathalyzer and this test actually measures the alcohol from air exhaled from deep within the lungs and not just from your mouth.

 When you drink alcohol the mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines absorb alcohol into the bloodstream. When your blood passes through the lungs' air sacs, the alcohol moves across them as well, thus the concentration of alcohol in the breath is directly proportional to the concentration of it in the blood. The breath alcohol to blood alcohol ratio is 2,100:1. This means that every 1 ml of blood has the same amount of alcohol in it as 2,100 ml of exhaled breath. For additional information, visit www.lsinterlock.com to learn more.

Ignition interlock devices are installed on the dashboard of a convicted drunk driver. The driver must breathe into the device in order to start the car and the blood alcohol level must usually be between 0.02 percent and 0.04 percent. The driver must also periodically breathe into the device while driving, to ensure that another person doesn't breathe into the device to start the car and then let the intoxicated person drive away. If the driver fails to provide a sober breath sample, a car alarm will go off and will not stop until the car is turned off or a clean breath sample is recorded. Ignition interlock devices must be installed at the offender's expense and cost between $70 and $150. They are usually mandated for two to three years after the conviction.

In Los Angeles interlock devices are highly advocated by groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). According to MADD, simply suspending driving is ineffective, as driving is necessary for most people to get to work, or go to the grocery store, or doctors office. The inconvenience of not being able to drive generally outweighs the offender's fear of breaking the law, and 50 to 70 percent of drunk drivers with suspended licences are reported to drive anyway. With the use of an ignition interlock Los Angeles motor vehicle operators who have had drunk driving offenses are allowed to drive, so long as they prove they are sober enough to do so. While it is possible for a drunk driver to have someone else breathe into the device, or to borrow a car from someone without an ignition device installed, most states have strict penalties for anyone who helps a DUI offender in this way.