Sales boom for TruTouch intoxication detector

Tag : Alcohol Breath Detector

In just its first year of sales, TruTouch Technologies Inc. hit $1.6 million in revenue. The Albuquerque startup, which formed in 2005, created anintoxication-testing device that uses a simple flash of light todetect alcohol, eliminating the need for invasive andtime-consuming blood, breath or urine tests.
 
The company launched its product early last year, and sales tookoff immediately, said President and CEO Jim McNally.
"We're projecting at least 50 percent top-line growth thisyear," McNally said. "We're thrilled with the responsewe've had."
The company sold about 100 machines to correction-relatedinstitutions nationwide last year that deal with alcohol abuse,including residential treatment centers, probation-connectedprograms, and minimum security jails and prisons with furloughprograms.
 
In May, the New Mexico Department of Transportation's TrafficSafety Bureau bought six machines that it plans to roll out thismonth at metro court in Albuquerque and at probation and paroleoffices in San Juan, Sandoval and Lea counties to test DWIconvicts, said Rachel O'Conner, New Mexico's DWI czar.
 
"TruTouch's technology holds a lot of promise for reducing DWIin New Mexico and for addressing other alcohol-related issues, suchas alcohol in the workplace," O'Conner said. "We want topromote and support new technology like this in the field."
The initial six-unit roll out will allow participating counties tocollect data and gauge the effectiveness of the machines during thenext year to determine if more machines should be placed around thestate, said Traffic Safety Bureau Director Mike Sandoval.