California DUI Ankle Monitoring Bracelets • DUI Penalties • Sacramento DUI

California DUI Ankle Monitoring Bracelets
Calif. Study Shows 24/7 Alcohol Bracelets Curb Future DUIs. Alcohol sensing anklets driving down costs, recidivism

Denis White's Perspective:

Some months ago, I had one such company put one of these devices on my ankle for several days to test. I have mixed feelings about the devices.

A couple concerns are cost and reliability of the DUI Bracelets.

Cost:
Actual fees may differ, but I was quoted by one company of a $75 administrative fee plus $12/day. Adding this cost to the list of other DUI conviction costs can add up to an excessive point for a wage-earner worker or other income challenged individual.

Reliability:
The proponents of the devices will swear that they are very accurate, since they are in the business of making money off them. Perhaps if they were only to register numbers of .08 or higher I would feel more comfortable. I, however, question the accuracy of the devices for sensing low levels of alcohol. There would seem to me to be too many substances that could create false positives.

When I wore the ankle monitor, I did drink a small amount of alcohol and tried other things to test the device. I used an Alco-Sensor IV Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Device to measure my own breath alcohol at the time. These devices have their own set of problems! Then I compared my own numbers to those reported to me by the company. They were not always consistent and sometimes varied by too much for my comfort level. Which device was off? Then there were minor false positives when I knew that I hadn’t consumed any alcohol and couldn’t account for the results.

In the end, I wouldn’t want to be the person ordered to wear the device trying to explain what might just be a false positive