Too Drunk to Drive? Breathometer Will Tell You, Then Call Uber

Drinking and driving ain’t no joke. Luckily, I didn’t learn that behind the wheel, but during failed attempts at drinking and driving material on open mics.

Still, it’s fair to say that a lot of people have been in this situation: You know you’re driving that night, but you’re at a bar meeting a friend and think, “well, one drink is fine.” Cut to three hours later, when you realize that drink must have been magically re-filled or something, and that might explain why you’re feeling a little buzz and are already very familiar with the establishment’s bathroom.

You might think you’re fine to drive — we all tend to think so — while you’re clearly above the legal limit, so knowing your blood alcohol number would actually be a useful tool for you to put those keys down; preferably when it’s not being told to you by a police officer on the side of the road.

Breathometer is a California-based company whose devices let users measure their blood alcohol content using their iOS and Android smartphones. But while a breathalyzer will provide us with cold hard facts, well… we tend to excel at ignoring facts when we’re drunk. We need someone to take action for us.

That’s why Breathometer has now teamed up with the car service Uber to get you home safe when you might not be able to do it by yourself.

Any time your blood alcohol level gets near the California legal limit of 0.08, a ‘Call Uber’ option will show up. Sort of your cellphone’s way of saying, “Alright, buddy, let’s get this out of the way so you can have fun safely.”

Aside from calling Uber, the app offers you some pretty handy options to address your situation. The main two groups are “Get Home Safe” or “Stay Nearby”. “Get Home Safe” is for when you really should just fucking go to sleep, and aside from Uber, it gives you the option of calling a cab or finding a designated driver (it’ll look through your contacts list and will ask them to get your drunk ass home.) The “Stay Nearby” feature is more up my alley, and it’s for drunks who know they won’t be driving and just need to enhance their night in the meantime. It offers three much appreciated sub-categories: “Find Some Food”, “Grab a Room”, and “Activity”. You know, something to kill time and aid you on your road to soberness.

Breathometer offers the Breeze, a wireless breathalyzer that clips on to your clothes easily, for $99.99; and the Original Breathometer, which plugs into your smartphone’s headphone jack, for $49.99.

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