BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — Take a deep breath.
With the police department’s all-new Alcotest 7110, checking blood-alcohol levels just got a lot easier.
“The old Breathalyzer as we know it has been around since the 1950s,” Sayreville Police Sgt. John Bartlinski said. “It is very antiquated.”
With the older breath test equipment, the officer administering it must go through numerous steps to get a reading, including the application of an acid-based solution to serve as a control base, a step Bartlinski said holds the potential of being a danger to both the officer and the person being tested.
The Alcotest 7110, made by Drager Safety Systems, Durango, Colo., eliminates the need for an acid base, as well as almost every other step.
According to Bartlinski, everything is fully automated with the new equipment, eliminating the suggestion of operator error that could come about from an old Breathalyzer test.
“It runs all of its own internal tests,” Bartlinski said. “[There’s] no possibility for operator error. It’s much more sophisticated.”
According to Bartlinski, like the Breathalyzer, the person being tested breathes into the machine to determine potential blood-alcohol content (BAC). The officer inputs basic information, such as the person’s height and weight, and the machine does the rest.
The Alcotest 7110 carries a cost of $11,000.
Although test runs have previously been conducted in other towns, Sayreville was the first town in New Jersey to begin using the Alcotest 7110 full time, Bartlinski said.
East Brunswick began using the new BAC testing equipment the same day, but a few hours later.
New Jersey is the last state in the nation to begin using the Alcotest 7110, Bartlinski said.
“It’s going to be easier and safer for the officer [to operate],” he said. “Pretty much, this machine is an exact science.”