New holiday hot item: Personal breath testers

A product designed to test if partygoers have had too many cocktails to legally get behind the wheel is growing in popularity.

Particularly at this time of year, many suburban stores are seeing a spike in sales of personal breath-testers - despite some concerns about their accuracy.

The hand-held device, ranging in price from $20 to $100, is hot at retailers including Best Buy, Sharper Image and Walmart.

The personal breath-tester market is valued at $215.2 million, up from $27.9 million in 2005, said Susan Eustis, president of WinterGreen Research, a Massachusetts market analysis company.

"That's dramatic growth. We rarely see a category grow so fast," she said.

The surge in interest, experts say, is due to continued enforcement of drinking and driving laws and upgraded technology in the testers.

"The technology finally got mature," Eustis said. For accurate results, she recommends personal breath-testers that are in the $75 to $100 range.

Law enforcement officials are skeptical of the accuracy of the consumer testers, as well as how they're used.

Buffalo Grove Sgt. Scott Kristiansen, the supervisor of the traffic division, says police breath-testing equipment is checked and certified monthly by the Illinois State Police. A breath-tester that's attached to a keychain gets thrown into purses and dropped into pockets and can't possibly keep accurate readings, police say.

Kristiansen adds that a person's decision not to drive should be made before going out to a party or bar. Judgment can still be impaired even if a drinker's blood-alcohol readings are within the legal limit, and a personal breath-tester reading may not be enough to persuade an intoxicated person to take a cab or ask a sober friend for a ride.

"Alcohol inhibits rational thinking and the decision-making process," Kristiansen said.

But he said the awareness is positive.

For example, someone hosting a party may want to test friends with a personal breath-tester before they get behind the wheel. Or a bartender can use the test on patrons.

"It could be used as a tool," Kristiansen said.

He said the concept behind the test is a good one. "I like the idea that someone is taking a proactive approach to keep intoxicated people from becoming intoxicated motorists."

The personal breath-tester could save lives if used properly, police say.

"If even one intoxicated person is kept off the road because of these things, it's worth it," Kristiansen said.