Who invented the breathalyzer?
Though technologies for detecting alcohol vary, it’s widely accepted that Dr. Robert Borkenstein (1912-2002), a captain with the Indiana State Police and later a professor at the University of Indiana, is regarded as the first to create a device that measures a subject’s alcohol level based on a breath sample. In 1954, Borkenstein invented his breathalyzer, that used chemical oxidation and photometry to determine alcohol concentration. The invention of the breathalyzer provided law enforcement with a non-invasive test with immediate result reporting that can be used to determine an individual’s level of intoxication.
