NEW FLASHLIGHT CONTAINS ALCOHOL SENSOR

A new flashlight containing an alcohol sensor is helping law enforcement
officials identify drunk drivers at police roadblocks, CNN reported June
16. Called "The Sniffer," the device is manufactured by PAS Systems in
Fredericksburg, Va. It is designed to sample air from in or around a
person's head area and analyze it for the presence of alcohol vapors.

"I put it up to the window. Then I push this top button when I ask him say
what's your address and this little yellow light comes on and tells me that
the pump's working and it sucks air into the flashlight," explained Lou
Gregoire, who is with Georgia's Gwinnett County DUI Task Force. "If you get
the highest red read-out there then the ambient level inside the car is
going to be a .12 or more. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that the
driver has had a lot to drink, but somebody in there has been drinking a
lot or they've spilled some alcohol inside the car recently."

The device was developed by researchers under the direction of various
insurance and highway safety organizations, including the National Highway
Traffic Administration.

"It uses an electrochemical fuel-cell sensor, and this sensor is highly
specific and analytical for alcohol and only alcohol," said Jarel Kelsey,
president of PAS Systems.

Gregoire said the device helps to identify drivers who are legally drunk
but have blood alcohol levels too low to pick up with the nose alone. "We
probably are picking up 20 to 30 percent more people that we wouldn't be
able to detect without the use of the flashlight," he said.

Some, however, say the device is an invasion of privacy, even though its
results cannot be used as evidence in court. "If you see someone driving
badly, stop them and see why they're driving badly," said Casey Raskob,
attorney for the National Motorists Association. "Don't sit at a road-block
and shine flashlights at people."

But Gregoire stressed that the device is not intrusive. "It's not where
they're having to provide a sample," he said. "We're not checking if you're
sitting in a car and I'm talking to you. I'm not checking your breath. I'm
checking the ambient air coming from the cabin."

The Sniffer, which costs $600, has been purchased by hundreds of law
enforcement agencies, schools and correctional institutions in the United
States, and by officials in countries ranging from South Africa to South
Korea.