France to Require All Cars (incl Rentals) to Have Breathalyzers

I dunno, I think this is a really bad idea. It'll encourage people to self-test and drink until they're right up to the limit, with consequent impairment of their driving.

The problem with those one-use tests (along with the fact that they're awfully inaccurate...unless something has drastically changed in the very recent past) is that someone can use one in a bar, realize they're at the limit, then hop into their car and take off. Unfortunately, their blood-alcohol level continues to rise for a period of time... Basically, in Europe, you can't drink-and-drive. Period. Yea for public transportation. (and I'm still pulling for a last-minute Monty Python switcheroo, although I do loves me some EB)

Eileen, This almost sounded like an April Fool's joke when I first read the links you provided. I doubt this will be happening anywhere else in Europe. This doesn't sound like a very well thought-out solution to the problem of impaired driving and I can see a number of potential problems. For example: > They may provide the Breathalyzer, but there's no guarantee anyone will actually use it. > "Consumer grade" products such as the ones mentioned are not as accurate as the models used by law enforcement. It's quite possible that a reading taken with the consumer unit could indicate a "safe" level, while a reading taken with a more advanced unit could indicate "over the limit". > Blood alcohol level can differ according to a variety of factors including type of alcohol used (ie: wine, beer, hard liquor), time, gender and body weight. Generally speaking, males metabolize alcohol differently than females. A reading taken with the in-car unit may be completely different after 15 minutes and a few kM down the road. > I'm assuming that each in-car unit will include a supply of disposable mouthpieces for "hygiene". Especially in a rental car, there's no way to tell how many people may have used the same mouthpiece and "forgot" to change it. It sounds like a bit of a "goofy" idea to me. On a related note, the impaired driving fatalities decreased substantially here in B.C. after the Government introduced tough new legislation. Unfortunately, there have been some court challenges to the convictions, so the legislation will have to be revised. Media reports this week indicate that a lot of the court challenges are being funded by the liquor industry - go figure! Thanks for posting the information.

"(and I'm still pulling for a last-minute Monty Python switcheroo, although I do loves me some EB)" Huh?

Nancy, I was referring to my thread I started a few days ago about Britain's selection of Engelbert Humperdinck for the 2012 Eurovision contest.