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The police use breath testing machines called “breathalyzers” to measure a person’s blood alcohol content (BAC) based on indirectly measuring a full sample of a person’s breath. However, breath testing machines are often inaccurate. They are programmed to test the BAC of the average person. If you are substantially taller or shorter, or are overweight, the test may not be a reliable indicator of your condition. Additionally, if you have a temperature or other condition which causes your body heat to rise, the test results will also be inaccurate. Moreover, certain mouth washes, cough syrups, certain medicines, medical conditions including Diabetes, and some breath fresheners are known to produce false readings. Sometimes the courts have thrown out the breath test results because of their unreliability or for other reasons that make the test incorrect. False BAC readings happen.

There are two methods the police or prosecutor can use to convict you of DWI. First, the prosecutor can successfully convict you if your blood/breath alcohol concentration is .08 or greater. Additionally, the prosecutor can convict you if you have lost or compromised the normal use of your mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of those substances. Therefore, even without the Breath Test sample, you may still be convicted based upon the officers’ testimony or the testimony of other witnesses.

When the police stop you, they are not required to read you or inform you of your Miranda rights (the right to remain silent). While the officer is observing you and your conduct, he is looking for hints or clues of intoxication, smelling for alcohol or narcotics, and listening to the way you answer his questions. If he feels you may be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he will order you out of your vehicle and ask you to perform certain test. While the law requires you to take a breathalyzer test, you are not required to perform the other roadside performance tests.

According the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), three common police tests can be used to determine if a person’s BAC (breath/blood alcohol content) is more than 0.08%, and therefore to impaired to operate a vehicle.

BREATHALIZER

The breathalyzer is a machine that determines a person’s blood alcohol content by measuring the alcohol the person’s breath and applying a mathematical formula to the breath sample. Although breathalyzer results are typically accepted throughout the Courts, many times they give false positives. However, there are many ways to successfully challenge and attack breath test results. First, there are an exact complex set of regulations and procedures which govern the administration of a chemical breath test. If these specific procedures and rules are not followed precisely, the breathalyzer evidence may be declared invalid. If this happens, then the Breath Test results will not be able to be used against you. At that point, the officer will try to testify as to your appearances and ability to perform certain functions like the Field Sobriety Tests in order to establish you inability to operate a motor vehicle.

The object of a breathalyzer test is to determine the blood-alcohol content of a suspect. The level of alcohol in the blood under which a person can be presumed guilty of driving under the influence varies between states. All states have laws in place that establish that driving with a BAC over 0.08% if proof of an inability to operate a vehicle safely.

The breathalyzer machines typically utilizes either an infrared spectroscopic analysis or a “wet chemical” technique to determine the alcoholic content of exhaled vapor. Infrared spectroscopic analysis is based on the principal that alcohol vapor captured in a chamber will absorb light waves of a certain frequency when exposed to the light rays. The more alcohol present in the chamber from your breath sample, the more light is absorbed. Then, determining the alcohol concentration of the sample is simply a matter of measuring the amount of light that reaches a receptor at the other end of the chamber; the more light, the lower the alcohol content in the breath. A computer algorithm then translates the figure into blood-alcohol concentration.

The breathalyzer is designed to test persons having a 2100/1 blood-breath ratio. Such ratios in fact vary from 1100/1 to 3200/1. The variance can produce errors in test results. In fact, high readings were taken in 14% of the population. Many factors can influence the breath Test results. Among them are the temperature of the machine being used, the body temperatures of the person being examined, Hematocrits, or the solid particles in whole blood vary (between men and woman), which also affects test results. They size of the person taking the exam, their health condition, and any substance they may have recently digested can also cause inaccurate results. Additionally, errors also occur when the police do not follow the proper procedures when giving the nreath tests, such as in calibrating a machine, testing blank specimens, removing radio wave producing objects away from the machine or in making sure a suspect is not affected by his or her ambient environment. Additionally, certain gastroesophageal reflux conditions or diets may affect the test results.

The blood alcohol test is used to determine whether you where legally drunk or intoxicated while driving.

A word from the manufacturer:

Infrared Spectrometry (IR) Breath Analysis

Simply put, infrared spectrometry (IR) continues to be the most widely accepted evidential form of breath alcohol testing. There is more case law surrounding the use of IR instruments than any other non-invasive type of alcohol testing analysis. The Intoxilyzer® 5000 is by far the most used evidential breath alcohol tester for collecting evidence in DUI cases.

The Alcohol “Fingerprint”

The basic premise of IR technology is that all things will absorb electromagnetic radiation in a unique and consistent manner. Molecular chemistry tells us that all substances, including the alcohol molecular structure, have a unique and consistent quality. Furthermore, the bond between one atom and another establishes that substance’s sensitivity to various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation and specifically, to infrared light energy. Since no two substances have the same molecular structure, it is possible to analyze or detect a substance’s presence due to the manner in which that substance will absorb the various wavelengths of the infrared spectrum. This absorption or “sensitivity” is caused by the resonating of the molecular bonds when exposed to the infrared energy. The IR energy is absorbed by these resonating bonds and is depleted. Therefore, it is possible to measure the amount of energy that is used, due to the unique and consistent manner in which it occurs. Since these bonds will resonate to different degrees at different wavelengths of IR light, a “fingerprint” of that substance’s absorption or sensitivity to those wavelengths is created. This fingerprint is most commonly expressed in percent transmittance, which depicts the loss of IR light able to pass through the molecule.

See the Light

When IR light of a particular frequency passing through a chamber with no alcohol present strikes a detector, a certain voltage level is created. This can be called X. As an alcohol sample is introduced into the chamber, some of the IR light is absorbed or attenuated. As the alcohol level in chamber increases, the amount of light able to pass through the chamber and strike the detector decreases. At the end of the sample, a very different amount of light is striking the detector creating a different level of voltage. This new level of voltage can be called Y. If the amount of IR light passing through the chamber with no alcohol present can be determined—X, and the amount of light passing through the chamber with alcohol present—Y—can be determined, the difference between the two will represent the concentration of alcohol in the breath sample.The more alcohol present, the greater the absorption.

In the Intoxilyzer® 5000 and 1400, a quartz lamp generates IR energy which travels through a sample chamber containing the subject’s breath. Upon leaving the chamber, a lens focuses the energy onto a chopper wheel containing up to five narrowband IR filters. The IR energy passed by the filters is focused on a highly sensitive photo detector which converts the IR energy into electrical pulses. A microprocessor then interprets the pulses and calculates the Blood Alcohol Concentration which is then displayed on the instrument.

Unlike other testing methods, the Intoxilyzer® 5000 and 1400 utilize features that allow only for the analysis of a subject’s “deep lung” air. They will not give false positives that might result from alcohol being present only in a subject’s mouth (such as might be present with some mouthwash or other confectionery products).