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Portable Breathalyzers aim to save lives
I don't get embarrassed by that familiar local slogan because it looks cheesy on a T-shirt, or because I have some deep-seated hatred for drinking and football. I cringe because it's true.
The drink-and-drive culture here makes Phil Laboon cringe as well. Laboon, 21, of Baldwin, says most of his friends already have been arrested for drinking and driving, a few have multiple DUI arrests, and two other friends have been killed in drunk driving accidents.
"I'm one of the only ones who hasn't been arrested for driving drunk. You're talking about kids who are 22 years old and they already have two DUI convictions," Laboon said last week. "I think it's a real epidemic here."
When he graduated from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute and landed a job as a Webmaster this spring, Laboon didn't run out like most of his buddies and buy a new car with his paycheck.
Instead, he dumped close to $7,000 to set up a company to distribute mini-Breathalyzers for people on the go. He's set up a Web site at www.saveabuddy.com and is working with local bars, nightclubs and convenience stores to distribute the keychain-sized lifesavers.
Manufactured by Legal Limit of Tampa, Fla., the portable Breathalyzers come in bright yellow, water-resistant cases. Inside is a plastic tube that you pop open and breathe into for 12 seconds. If the yellow crystals inside turn blue, you're over the legal limit and you shouldn't drive.
Laboon plans to sell them for 4 or 5 bucks, but for now, he's mostly been handing them out for free. In the coming weeks, a team of promoters will be in the Strip District and the South Side, visiting bars and showing people how to use them. Laboon just placed an order for 2,000 more.
Laboon said he had originally planned to sell electric testers that would have given a digital readout of a person's exact blood alcohol content, but found that the one-time use Legal Limit models were more accurate, and less likely to be abused.
"I didn't want it to be the type of thing where guys would be seeing if they could get drunker than their buddies," Laboon said. "It's not really for the person who is drinking, but for the friend, so they can convince their friend to hand over the keys and call a cab."
He left a handful of samples that I gave to friends -- many who planned to test them that very night.
Laboon said he hopes he saves a life or two, and now that my friends are using his product, I hope he does, too.
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