Santa Clara County Receives State Grant To Purchase Breathalyzers

SANTA CLARA COUNTY (CBS SF) – Santa Clara County law enforcement officials are getting some help in fighting drunk driving as they have received a grant from the state to purchase more breathalyzer machines.

The more than $161,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety will be used on state-of-the-art breathalyzers, replacing older machines.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

The old breathalyzers are not always accurate which is why suspected drunk drivers are almost always taken to testing sites where they blow into more accurate instruments.

"A person really needs to be taken to one of these sites to have an accurate blood-alcohol value established," said Ian Fitch, the director of the Santa Clara County Crime Lab.

Fitch said that along with the new machines, the money will be used to expand the number of testing sites across the county.

"It will give us a better idea of what the blood-alcohol level value or content was when they were actually driving," he said.

The new machines are expected to be in place in the next six months and officers will be trained on how to use them.

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