Breathalyzer Bike Lock Stops Drunken Cyclists In Their Tracks

Zothecula writes: Driving while drunk is a bad idea even on a bike. Slowed reflexes and decreased awareness of the world around them can make a drunk cyclist a danger on the road. Working in much the same way as breath-test locks for your car, the Alcoho-Lock aims to prevent cyclists from hopping in the seat when they've had one too many. The device even comes with a smartphone app that connects with the lock over Bluetooth and lets a loved one know that you are trying to bike drunk.

Comments

Self-respecting drunks

[macraig]

No self-respecting cyclist drunk will ever voluntarily purchase one of these, and they can't serve a purpose sitting on a store shelf, so what's the point? Will the manufacturer now secretly draft boilerplate for new state legislation that will require the use of breathalyzer locks by all cyclists and make it a criminal offense to refuse, thus guaranteeing themselves a captive market?

(Don't laugh; how do you think California wound up with laws mandating bicycle helmets, car insurance, and smog checks, among other things? Assemblymen had little faeries with deep pocketses whispering in their ears. Captive markets created by and for corporate interests.)

Re:And this is a big problem WHERE?

[Dutch Gun]

I remember reading a while back about drunk cycling being a commonplace issue in Russia

Well, sure, but alcoholism in Russia is so rampant that it's negatively affect lifespan stats. There's a real problem, for instance, with people passing out in the dead of winter and freezing to death on the streets. So, it's likely that drunk whatever is a problem in Russia, so long as it's possible to do whatever while intoxicated.

Re:And this is a big problem WHERE?

[LaurenCates]

Okay, I'm seeing a lot of respondents say this is a non-US thing.

Fair enough.

I'm in the US, where there's this attitude of "you're safer in an SUV" prevalent. So, perhaps this has the effect of "I wouldn't be safe on a bike AT ALL", which is ultimately why people in this country hate bikers.

In my experience (and where I'm at), "Share the Road" signs often mean "If you're on a bike, stay on the shoulder and cars will swerve around you into the left lane. That's not safer, but at least drivers aren't inconvenienced by bikers."

In other words, biking sober is highly discouraged. Drunk biking is right out.

Re:And this is a big problem WHERE?

[captainpanic]

I live in Amsterdam and I've been biking drunk way more times than I should admit.
Still I wouldn't buy one of these things!

This.
All Dutch people bike drunk (at least, those who drink also bike, since every Dutchie has a bike). But there is a decent infrastructure for bikes, and as a result there are negligible accidents with drunk bikers.
If you grow up biking all the time (like most Dutch people), you will be able to bike home just as easily as you can walk home. A biker will (at most) cause harm to himself, if anything... but the numbers are so negligible that I cannot begin to state my disapproval of this invention.

Also, I just already thought of a funny way to sabotage my friend's alco-lock on his bike (remember, that bike is parked outside the pub). Spray a little parfume (or any alcohol containing liquid) into it, and that bike isn't moving for the next 15-30 minutes, lolzors. Vodka shots probably work as well.
Also, I can just breathe into all the bikes on the bike parking while drunk. :)

And a smart drunk person will just ask someone else to open his lock.

Why not put an alcohol lock on your shoes? Drunk walking is probably a problem too. Hell, just turn all the pubs into hotels: mandatory staying overnight until you're sober. You cannot leave if you're intoxicated. That would make the world a better place. /rant

Re:Drunk driving is still a problem

[Ol Olsoc]

That was about 10,000 people in the US in 2013.

You weren't by any chance involved with George Bush's "Mission Accomplished" banner were you?

About 33 percent of the number of people killed by guns in the US - depending on your metrics. Don't see too many people giving a shit about that number.

Respectfully, 10,000 people a year is a barely a blip on the radar when dealing with causes of death. You don't want to hear that, I'm sure, but the drunken driving issue in the US is well into diminishing returns as far as resources expended. When we have random checkpoints set up to fine and incarcerate people who haven't even been in an accident, and when we lower the BAC level needed for conviction, we're running out of options other than setting snipers outside of bars and maybe swatting people if their credit card statements show they ever purchased anything at a liquor store.

To my argument, there is a reason we're seeing those stickers that say "Impairment begins with the first drink" on cars with a MADD sticker on them. Maybe it's time we start random stops and testing for Alka Seltzer Plus intoxication, or banning people who have colds from driving.

Before you call that ridiculous, my father once ran into a light pole when he had a nasty cold and coughed and spit out the window - totaled his car. We used to tease him about "going into hock" for his new car after that accident.

Re:And this is a big problem WHERE?

[Aqualung812]

I just had a bicyclist pass another bicyclist while I was going by, while there was traffic in the other lane. I almost drove straight up his asshole, and he would have deserved it too,

In my state, at least, riding two abreast is completely legal.

Those bikes are traffic, and they were ahead of you. You shouldn't be passing them until you can do so safely by getting all 4 of your tires in the next lane.

If there was an oncoming car, you made an unsafe pass.

The 2000lbs cages are the problem

[DrYak]

The 2000lbs steel cages are the problem.

If you bike while surrounded by these steel caches, yes biking while drunk is going to be a serious danger. Your lack of reflexes and attention might end you up painting red the front bumper of some gaz guzzler.

If you live in Europe, there's a high chance that you bike on separate bike lanes, where you mostly only encounter other bikes (with drunken or sober bikers on them). At worst, you'll get some scratches and bruises if you managed to collide into another biker as drunk as you are.

Biking while drunk is a lot safer than driving while drunk, and provides a safer way of transportation when you want to have a few drings before going home.
- A breathalyzer bike lock would just discourage people using this "safer-while-drunk" transportation device when drunk.
- Building separate bike lanes would let drunks drive only among other bikers, no car arround, and thus give a safer solution to drive home while drunk. (compared to use a car while drunk, for example).

(Of course, eventually, self-driving cars will render the whole point moot, eventually...)

Re:The 2000lbs cages are the problem

[TheCarp]

Actually....I have to say, I think in the US the real problem is inexperience. Not just on the part of car drivers but of bicyclists as well.

I grew up riding a bike. I learned to ride a bicycle living on the longest main road in one of the most densly populated cities in the US (we compete with burroughs of NYC for density). I had no bike lanes and city busses passing me going 35 at 2 feet away. I learned to navigate rotaries....but...nobody was riding back then. It was something kids or the occasional DUI convict did.

Now bikes are everywhere and some of them are clueless.

Just the other day I stopped for a pedestrian entering the crosswalk on the right. Bicyclist next to me completely ignored this and almost creamed a 70 year old woman entering the road, just kept right on going. The woman had to step back to avoid being hit and still was brushed.

A few months back I was in heavy traffic approaching a crosswalk. I saw a bicyclist on the side street across the road. He was approaching at about 25 MPH, and what did he do when he got to the intersection? He scooted over to the crosswalk and crossed the street at full speed making me slam on my brakes to avoid him.

But I don't think the problem is bikes so much as, we never had so many people using them, people are new. Compare them to young car drivers and its clear what the issue is. I remember being both a shitty bicyclist and shitty driver. Its just growing pains, we don't need technological solutions, we need people to get used to new situations, and that takes time.