Encountering the Breathalyzer

I have never seen one so far! Although I have been stopped by police after returning from a late movie or a marathon working session that lasted longer than the usual hours, those were routine checks. The policeman usually asked for the license, insurance or even on occasions ticket of the movie.

A week back, two of my friends had a brief but an high impact encounter with the breathalyzer. They were returning after a joyous meeting in one of the local waterholes when there were greeted by a policemen. After taking the breathalyzer test, they immediately came to know how hitech the police force in Bangalore were! The breathalyzer denoted both were driving under influence. A printer spitted out the charges and the fine while a case was registered in the court.

This encounter taught them the following valuable lessons

  1. Do not drink and drive! This is easiest solution. If you follow this rule, there are no worries and no fines!
  2. Do not drink heavily if you are driving! The breathalyzer has a threshold before it registers a case! If you do not cross this threshold, you are safe!
  3. Cheat the breathalyzer. Both my friends had to blow twice into the breathalyzer. The first time, they cheated the machine! The alcohol rates were shown as the below threshold. But when they blew for the second time under the careful observation of the policemen, the machine told the truth!
  4. Do not touch the breathalyzer! When everything else fails, this can come in handy! But how do you escape from the breathalyzer test? Any guesses?
  5. Flee! As soon as you see the police, flee the scene! One of my friends tried it. He did not stop when the policemen signaled him to. He was chased and subsequently caught by the cops. He was charged with reckless driving! Do you still want to try this?

Picture Courtesy: http://movementarian.com

Tags: Musings,Bangalore,Police,Breathalyzer

Comments

  1. The Holy LamaNovember 8, 2009 at 12:07 AM

    Guess whom did I see blowing into that the other day, the good shepherd- yes, a priest.Even men of God can't escape its clutches

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  2. The Holy LamaNovember 8, 2009 at 12:11 AM

    Guess whom did I see blowing into that the other day? A priest. Even men of God are not let off, sad thing for world of happy people:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Crazy FourNovember 8, 2009 at 12:35 AM

    Blow into it while you can, so you may tell tales later.:D

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  4. NonaNovember 8, 2009 at 5:53 AM

    @The Holy Lama-

    Thanks for dropping by. That is funny! Asking a priest to take the test! But should we be happy or sad? Happy that law does not differentiate and sad that priest break the law!

    @Crazy Four-

    Thanks for dropping by! :) I am recording the "blow"er's tales.

    ReplyDelete
  5. scorpiogeniusNovember 8, 2009 at 3:40 PM

    Hey, I read in one of the comments in my blog that policemen in my city perform the test by asking you to blow into their faces. Now isn't that the easiest way? They could detect the % by the strenght of the 'wave', perhaps..

    @ Holy Lama, lmao, that is funny.. hahahaa. Police treats all citizens alike, eh?

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  6. BK Chowla,November 8, 2009 at 6:45 PM

    Just don't drink and drive.If you do ,just flee.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DominicNovember 8, 2009 at 6:48 PM

    You got to be careful about the instruments though. Just the other week a few of my friends were flagged down. Although one of them had not had any alcohol, the beeper went off and the policeman wouldn't believe it.. That is untill the machine beeped when he(policeman) too blew into it. ;)

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  8. ZBNovember 8, 2009 at 8:27 PM

    haha, i am happy to hear that Bangalore police is high-tech...we need such technologies and heavy fines. i never drink and i dont want to die coz of someone Else's drinking problem.

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  9. NonaNovember 8, 2009 at 9:17 PM

    @ScorpioGenius - Isn't the "wave" method the most traditional approach? :)

    @BKC - Like I said, the fleeing approach is good but not an effective one unless you know all the roads!

    @Dominic - Wow! Interesting! Now, you have given all of us another technique to try out! We will also ask the cops to blow!

    @ZB - :) Amen.

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  10. AparnaNovember 9, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    Do you know there is a company in Mumbai that provides you with a driver for such purposes? The day of the party, you just call up a number and voila...a chauffeur arrives to drive you around. But on a rather serious note, the rate of accidents have come down a great deal after the police introduced the breathalyzer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sucharita SarkarNovember 9, 2009 at 3:38 PM

    This summer, when we visited Bangalore, my brother took a cue from your Rule 5 and drive a lot of extra miles to avoid the roads where the breathalyser-police stood watch.

    ReplyDelete
  12. NonaNovember 10, 2009 at 11:47 PM

    @Aparna - You mean driver for a hire! But, imagine you go for a drink after work and it is not a planned outing! What do you do in such a case? :)

    @Sucharita - You should pass his number to me! May be he can help us with best escape routes!

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  13. sujata senguptaNovember 11, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    the best route is for one partner to drink and the other to drive, thats what is followed here, the spouses take in drinking, the other who has just had a light drink drives that day, here the fine is huge and 3 days of prison food compulsory..

    ReplyDelete
  14. NonaNovember 11, 2009 at 11:56 PM

    @Sujata - The same is followed in US! But, their fine is not as strict as your place! The fines have lasting effect on your wallet. :)

    ReplyDelete

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