Dorset roads police are using a new roadside evidential breath test machine to speed up drink drive investigations and improve the accuracy of roadside alcohol readings. Dorset roads police are now using a new roadside breath test machine across the county. The Lion Intoxilyzer 9000 measures alcohol in a breath sample using pulsed infrared technology, giving officers an evidential test at the roadside rather than having to take the sample in custody. The device has been rolled out to the Roads Policing Team and was used in Dorset on Tuesday 18 August 2026, when a motorist reportedly gave 16
Dorset roads police are now using a new roadside breath test machine across the county.
The Lion Intoxilyzer 9000 measures alcohol in a breath sample using pulsed infrared technology, giving officers an evidential test at the roadside rather than having to take the sample in custody.
The device has been rolled out to the Roads Policing Team and was used in Dorset on Tuesday 18 August 2026, when a motorist reportedly gave 167 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, almost 5 times the legal limit of 35.
Police Sergeant Dave Cotterill, of the Roads Policing Team, said the device improves "the precision" of drink drive detection and helps officers remove drivers from the road more quickly.
He said the equipment saves time with evidential testing, allows officers to spend more time "out and about on the roads", and removes the issue of alcohol levels changing before a custody sample.
Police Sergeant Cotterill said drink driving is among the fatal 5 road traffic offences, with 113 people killed or seriously injured since the beginning of 2023 in collisions where alcohol was a contributing factor.
