A simple, inexpensive blood-alcohol level test could keep you from getting behind the wheel when you shouldn't.

A small strip of plastic may help keep some New Year's Eve partygoers from getting behind the wheel too soon after drinking.

Many people need not look any further than their local convenience store to find Guardian Angel, a "personal alcohol test" that is sold for less than $2.

Each credit card-sized packet contains two thin plastic strips. When a strip is placed on the tongue and wet by saliva, patches on it react and change color. The color is then matched to a chart on the packet that provides an "accurate estimate" of the level of alcohol in the blood, the manufacturer says.

The product has not yet been evaluated by National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

According to the NHTSA, drunken driving kills one person every 33 minutes and injures one person every two minutes each day in the United States. What's more, more than 16,000 of the estimated 42,000 motor vehicle deaths that occur annually can be attributed to drinking.

During the holiday season, drunken driving accidents increase as more people go to parties and consume more alcohol. NHTSA estimates that more than twice as many people die in alcohol-related crashes on New Year's Eve than on other winter days.

Experts say that simple self-assessment tools like these can help people make more informed decisions after drinking, and can go a long way in preventing drunken driving accidents and fatalities.

Alcohol and the Body

A tool that can help individuals self-assess after drinking is important because of the unpredictable effects alcohol can have on the body.

"The effects of alcohol are certainly related to one's genetics and past experiences," says Boris Tabakoff, professor and chairman in the department of pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "The psychological effects of alcohol may also be very different in different situations."

A cocktail consumed at a party, for example, can have a stimulating effect, while the same cocktail consumed at home after a long day at work can have a sedative effect.

For these reasons, how you may be feeling after a couple of cosmopolitans can have very little to do with your blood-alcohol content or your level of driving impairment.

"Most people in just a normal party situation rarely get above a blood alcohol content of .04," says John Moulden, president of the National Commission Against Drunk Driving.

The current legal limit in many states is .08, yet a report to Congress by the NHTSA found that even very low levels of alcohol in the blood can impair driving.

"Basically their conclusion was that there is no safe level of alcohol in the body," says Moulden. "Even as low as .02 there was some evidence of some types of impairment. But, obviously the higher you get the more things that are impaired physiologically and psychologically.

"I think one of the keys to fighting drunk driving is getting people to assume personal responsibility," says Moulden.

Understanding Blood-Alcohol Content

Before people can assume that responsibility, it helps to understand drinking as it relates to the legal limit.

"Devices that can help educate people so that they can appreciate their own blood-alcohol concentration based on their own drinking and the circumstances of their drinking are definitely beneficial," adds Moulden.

A self-assessment product like Guardian Angel can help people attain an understanding of their risk, but that is only part of the game.

"[You can also] take care of those you care about by making a positive intervention to persuade someone who has been drinking that their judgment may be impaired and they should give up their car keys," explains Jeff Scult, vice president of marketing for Guardian Angel. "We want to enable people to help prevent what is truly a life-changing mistake — getting a DUI or worse."

Reference Source 89

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