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Comment by thepangolino | Hacker News Reader

Not to be a buzz killer but I don’t think that’s ever happening. Displaying an actual number is bound to have kids try to max it. Using the legal limit and a colour code might open it up to liability.

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You can already buy devices that display estimates of blood alcohol concentration derived by measuring breath alcohol concentration. I’ve never heard of any of their vendors being successfully sued on the theory you present. I doubt a unit somehow measuring it through the skin would be any different.

I think the issue would arise if someone used it as justification of normal blood alcohol limits and then drove, was stopped and then found to be sufficiently intoxicated to be illegal. Then sue. If apple say cannot be used in this context, then what context is it actually helpful?

That already happens with the existing breath-based devices. People claim they measured under the limit on their own device, then still get caught by law enforcement. Sometimes law enforcement has more accurate devices. Blood alcohol concentration can rise immediately after drinking, so sometimes you can measure under the limit when you start to drive but be over the limit when pulled over. Some people just lie, and claim they measured under on their own device even when they didn’t.

I’ve never heard of a manufacturer being successfully sued over this. If it was going to happen, it probably would have happened by now. The law has never had much sympathy for drunks.

Even if it’s accuracy was not that great, say <25%, 25-75%, and >75% of legal limit would still be useful to know as some places have heavy handed bartenders, were you could end up with more than your expecting if you are counting drinks.

Even having crude data will let me know how fast various formats of alcohol are uptaked and processed out so if I have a drink with friends, I would know ahead of time if I should take transit vs walk in park after and then drive or stick to alcohol-free drinks (most people I know are cross town in a way public transportation is not cheap/quick but a car is).

Edit: I do use a breathalyzer on myself now, but they are annoying to take samples, and are not super accurate either

If you can feel any alcohol effect, don't drive. Just be honest with yourself. This isn't that difficult.

That is what I do. I don't want to assume that because I "feel no effect" that I'm still fine, I want to be able to measure that "I'm fine".

This and the parent post are both right on. I would love that BAC thing. It would take me from 0% likely to ever own an Apple Watch, to almost 50%. It would reduce drunk-driving scenarios because people are going to be monitoring and pacing their bar/party sessions.

But I foresee lots of lawsuits making Apple shy to offer it. No matter how smart Apple is at making it legal, there are always amateurish or vindictive governments that will make laws that cause Apple to risk responsibility.

Where I'm from, we already make a bit of a game out of trying to get a "high score" on the BAC checkers that are at most pubs - and that costs money. I can 100% see this turning into a game for a lot of people (me included, if I'm honest)

>buzz killer I see what you did there.

And the killing of buzz is bi-directional too!

Pun intended?

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