Are you aware of the law regarding impaired driving? Even though social opinions about drunk driving have changed over the years, it continues to be a problem and many people die every year on our roads as a result of drunk drivers.  It is an important step that the laws have changed regarding drunk driving both in terms of the blood alcohol content and the penalties that are levied against convicted drunk drivers.

Not everybody is aware of what the legal blood alcohol content level is in Canada.  If a police officer administers a breathalyzer test to you and you register at 0.08% or higher you can assume that you're going to be charged with drunk driving.  Many people are aware of this as it has been around for little while.  What many people don't know is that new laws have been passed regarding blowing more than 0.05% into a breathalyzer test.  You can now be charge for blowing over this level and the penalties get more severe if it happens to you more than once.

Sometimes it is difficult to figure out whether or not you are over the legal limit.  There are charts that can give you a general idea of how much you can drink before hitting the limit depending on your body weight.  These can only provide a rough estimate because there are other factors.  Everybody's body will process alcohol at a different rate so the only reliable way to tell it is to use a personal breathalyzer test.

A few years ago no one would even think to get a portable breathalyzer but now they are becoming increasingly common.  They are not only affordable but they are now very accurate as well.  Previous versions use semiconductor technology, which is quite accurate and has gone down in price.  The new fuel cell breathalyzer models are even more accurate.  Because of their availability and affordability it's not a bad idea to have at least one of them around.

Even if you're not planning to drive, you'll probably find yourself testing it just to see how much alcohol it would take for you to be above the legal limit.  Not only is this something that is just interesting to do but on occasions where you don't have a portable breathalyzer with you you'll actually have a better idea of how many drinks you can have before you need to stop.  You can pass it around for your friends and family to do as well so that everyone is aware of their limits.

If you're concerned about the cost of getting an alcohol breathalyzer, consider the alternative for a moment.  The cost of just one ticket will pay for a few breathalyzers.  There is not only the cost of the ticket that you'll get but you will likely get a call from your insurance company as well letting you know that your rates have increased.  All of this assumes that you are only being charged with an offense that is related to blood alcohol content of over 0.05%.  It will get much worse and much more expensive if you are over 0.08% as you could be looking at heavy fines, license suspensions and even jail time.