Is the Draeger Alcotest 9510 reliable?

In recent years, the Washington State Patrol has rolled out the Draeger Alcotest 9510 as its breath testing machine to replace the Datamaster, which it has used for decades.

The Draeger has been used in other states, like Massachusetts, where problems have arisen. Recently, attorneys in Washington have started to mount legal challenges to the Draeger. An article in ZDNet has a decent summary of the current state of things in Washington.

One of the key issues is that the Draeger company will not release the source code that runs the machine. Without having access to the code, it can only be tested from the outside. If the machine has any incorrect calculations or corrections that it makes while processing a breath test result, that would obviously affect the breath test.  The problem was that no one could review the code because Draeger had kept it proprietary.

Litigation in Snohomish County allowed the code to be reviewed by a select handful of individuals for errors. Protective orders were issued which prevented those experts from using their analysis of the code for other purposes. So, only a handful of people know what the issues with the source code are.

The article outlines some of the potential errors in the code.

The bidding process that was gone through was also somewhat suspect. In order for a private company, such as Draeger, to receive the government contract for breath machines, the State had to put it to a bid. Draeger was the sole bidder.

Draeger is also being sued by Rush UMC over allegations of faulty monitoring systems.