DUI Cases – The Merits of the Breathalyzer or Lack Thereof

The tests used to determine drunk driving issues have become so familiar that few really think about them. The breathalyzer, for instance, is accepted as a carte blanche way for determining blood alcohol levels. Ah, but is it?

The breathalyzer has been with us in one form or another since the 1920s. Of course, it wasn’t called a breathalyzer at that time. The “breathalyzer” name was actually a particular product that was offered by…wait for it…Smith & Wesson. Yes, the gun maker! Much like Coke, the name slowly came to be used for the entire range of products that measure blood alcohol content via the breath.

The first effective device was known as a drunkometer. The device was the size of a shoe box and the offending person blew up a small balloon. The air in the balloon was then passed through an acidified potassium solution. If alcohol was present, the solution would change color. The more alcohol present, the more the color changed. It was an effective test, but not much good when it came to proving whether someone had consumed enough alcohol to be impaired. I won’t even get into the question of how color blind police officers were impacted!

Modern breath analyzers use various forms of chemical analysis. They do not actually determine the exact amount of alcohol in a person’s blood. Instead, they make an estimate based upon alcohol molecules that are present in a particular breath. Yes, an estimate. When a person is found to blow .07 [legal] or .08 [DUI], the figure is not exact. Given the fine margins, it seems a very questionable practice particularly when you consider how the law works.

In most states, the result of the breathalyzer has immense impact on the determination of guilt. If you are found to be above the stated blood alcohol content level under law, then the person is presumed in court to be legally impaired per se. The burden is then on the defendant to prove the analyzer results are wrong. This is an important switch for a device that isn’t all that accurate.

How accurate is the breathalyzer? Well, it depends on a host of issues. It can be affected by the temperature, the calibration, the administration abilities of the officer and so on. Most interesting, the person being tested can increase the reading by holding their breath. Alternatively, hyperventilating or exercising strenuously for 30 seconds will reduce a blood alcohol content reading by as much as 25 percent!

The breathalyzer is a standard testing device used in traffic stops where drunk driving is considered a possible issue. It is important to understand, however, that these devices are not absolute accurate and can be successfully challenged in court.