 Previously it was said that when the ugly bartender starts becoming beautiful then you know that you are drunk. That used to be the indicator prior to our age of technology. Now I know that this may sound crazy, but iPhone has entered the market of road safety by the introduction of an application known as “R-U-Buzzed” that has revolutionized the way drinkers assess themselves after the consumption of alcohol.
One famous story is that of a 27-year-old marketing agent who went out with friends to have a chat and some drinks. After consuming a couple of drinks for a couple hours she decided it was time to hit the sack. She felt quite ok, walking consciously, not slur in her voice or any other indication that she may be drunk. Then she remembered R-U-Buzzed. She whipped out her iPhone, simply typed in her weight and the amount of drinks she had and to her surprised she got the big red print ‘Do not even think about driving’. Fortunately, she complied with the advice of her iPod and called a taxi. The assessment from the R-U-Buzzed application was then confirmed the next day with a hangover that had her in bed all day.
How does R-U-Buzzed Works
R-U-Buzzed is the brainchild of the Colorado Department of transportation. This brilliant idea was born out of a need to bring down the spate of road fatalities because of drunk driving. R-U-Buzzed is available from your Apps store free of cost for users of the iPhone to download it to their iPhone.
R-U-Buzzed does not give a scientific evaluation of you blood alcohol content level, but uses general information created from various accident records, medical advice and plain ingenuity to come up with an average blood alcohol content. The intention of the program is only to act as a guide for drinkers and in the end save lives.
Is R-U-Buzzed Worth it?
When the Colorado Department of Transport met for their regular meetings to devise ways of reducing road fatalities due to alcohol consumption, they decided to develop something that can connect with the new generation of drivers who were now making up the bulk of road fatalities. They contacted a marketing company who helped them to come up with the idea of R-U-Buzzed. They quickly dispatched the $8000 needed to develop the program. Since its launch on the Apps store, the application has been downloaded over 40,000 times with a spike around public holidays. Since then they have added updates that calls a cab for drunken patrons and utilize the GPS application of the iPhone to indicate their location to the cab service. As a result, the Road traffic department has been tapping itself on its back for the success of the application. It however must be noted that all users of the application must agree to a disclaimer that the results are not scientifically proven.
R-U-Buzzed Critics
Several skeptics and critics of the application have raised concern about abuse of the R-U-Buzzed application. They base their concern on stories of teens constantly drinking and testing to find their drinking limit. Owing to the fact that the findings are not scientifically supported this can be dangerous. In addition, the application only displays information based on what is imputed. Therefore, this exposes it to those who want to fool themselves about their condition. |
At least he didn’t get arrested in Arizona. They have some of the most severe penalties in the US. Read about the penalties enforced under Arizona DUI law, not too pretty.
Just seen this on twitter cheers for the info.