SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Bargoers weighing whether they’re
sober enough to take the wheel could soon have a tool to help make that
decision.
Breathalyzers and similar devices could pop up in more
bars across Utah under a coming proposal from Draper Republican Rep.
Greg Hughes. The measure is still incubating, but it aims to cut down on
drunk driving in Utah.
"It makes good sense," he said Friday.
Setting
up the machines alongside pool tables and juke boxes would especially
help younger drinkers who are still learning their limits, Hughes said.
The
measure won’t require any bar to install the testing devices, he said,
but it would ensure businesses aren’t held responsible for customers who
fail a breath test but decide to drive anyway.
Some bar owners
hesitate to back the measure, questioning how well the devices read the
level of alcohol circling the bloodstream.
The devices can cost as
much as $1,000. To date, nightspots that have such meters generally
affix them to walls and charge about $2 for a reading, and patrons often
wander over for a laugh.
Hughes said his plan would make using
the machines optional for drinkers, and police would not gain access to
any data collected.
Bob McCarthy owns the Garage on Beck, a Salt
Lake City bar on a stretch of highway lined with chain fences and smoke
stacks. McCarthy on Friday morning questioned the accuracy of the
machines. If customers were to register a lower level of alcohol than
they expected, he worries, it could embolden them to drive when they
normally wouldn’t.
"Somebody could feel they shouldn’t be driving
but the number says 0.08, which is right on the border, so maybe they’ll
go and they shouldn’t go," he said.
He advises customers, "Just know how much you’ve had to drink and whether you’re OK to drive."

The
most recent data available show that in 2010, drunk driving accounted
for about 30 percent of all traffic deaths nationwide. In Utah, that
percentage hovered around 10 percent during the same year. Utah DUI
arrests have dipped in recent years, but lawmakers say the state should
do more to prevent those numbers from climbing again.
Hughes said he hopes to have the bill ready next week.
"It’s
not illegal to drink in the state of Utah," Hughes told reporters
earlier in the week. "It’s not illegal to drink and operate a vehicle"
with an alcohol level below the legal cutoff. But, he added, "How does a
consumer know where they’re at, exactly? I think it makes sense."
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