5 Tips On How To Avoid A False DUI Breathalyzer Result

Let's say you had a drink or two but don't feel you are under
the influence of alcohol. However, you are arrested on
suspicion of drunk driving and offered the choice of taking a
breath or blood test (or, in some states, urine). Most DUI
suspects choose the breath test -- a choice which could doom
your chances to prove your innocence. Consider the following
advice when deciding which test to take:

1. If you smoke cigarettes, you may want to pass on that
Breathalyzer mouthpiece the officer is handing you. Scientific
research has shown that smoking can raise the test result
considerably -- enough to get you charged and convicted of
drunk driving. This is because most breath analyzing devices
will falsely report acetaldehyde as alcohol. Acetaldehyde is a
compound produced in the liver in small amounts as a by-product
in the metabolism of alcohol. However, scientists have found
acetaldehyde concentrations in the lungs of smokers are far
greater than for non-smokers. ("Origin of Breath Acetaldehyde
During Ethanol Oxidation: Effect of Long-Term Cigarette
Smoking", 100 Journal of Laboratory Clinical Medicine 908).
Translated: because breathalyzers can’t tell the difference
between alcohol and acetaldehyde, cigarette smokers will have a
higher blood-alcohol reading.

2. If you are a diabetic with possible low blood sugar, you
should also avoid the breath test. A well-documented by-product
of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is a state called
ketoacidosis, which causes the production of acetone -- and
acetone, like acetaldehyde, will be reported by the Brethalyzer
as alcohol. In other words, the Breathalyzer will read
significant levels of alcohol on a diabetic’s breath where
there may be little or none. See "Diabetes, Breath Acetone and
Breathalyzer Accuracy: A Case Study", 9(1) Alcohol, Drugs and
Driving (1993). To make matters worse, the reactions of a
person in the early stages of a diabetic attack include
dizziness, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, loss of
coordination and confusion -- the same symptoms which the
patrol officer is looking for: the clear signs of a person
under the influence of alcohol. And the officer's observations
are quickly followed by a failing performance on DUI field
sobriety tests.

3. Are you on a low-carb diet? Or had nothing to eat in quite
awhile? Avoid the Breathalyzer in a DUI investigation -- for
the same reasons stated in number 2. Perfectly normal, healthy
individuals can experience temporary conditions of low blood
sugar after consuming small amounts of alcohol, resulting in
exaggerated but false symptoms of intoxication. Fasting
glycemia can exist where a person has not eaten in 24 hours or
has been on a low-carbohydrate diet. Production of glucose in
the liver is stopped while the alcohol is broken down. Result:
the blood sugar level will drop, affecting the central nervous
system -- and producing symptoms of a person under the
influence of alcohol and a higher breath test result.

4. If you have acid reflux or have burped or belched before
taking the Breathalyzer, offer to provide a blood sample
instead. The reason is that you will be breathing alcohol from
your stomach into your throat and oral cavity, where it will
stay for 20 minutes or so -- to be breathed directly into the
breath machine. This is not a good thing. The machine's
computer is multiplying the amount of alcohol in the breath
sample by 2100 times to provide a reading of the alcohol in the
blood. This is because it assumes the sample came from the
lungs, not the stomach, and the average person has 2100 units
of alcohol in his blood for every unit of alcohol in his breath
(called the partition ratio). The Breathalyzer does not "know"
that your breath sample is not from your lungs and that it
should not multiply the alcohol level by anything. Result:
false high readings -- and a DUI conviction.

5. When you see that officer in the rear-view mirror, don't
reach for the mouthwash or breath spray to disguise the drink
or two you've had. Most of them contain significant levels of
alcohol (Listerine, for example is 27% alcohol) and create a
mouth alcohol effect: they remain in the oral cavity for 20
minutes or so -- just long enough to be breathed into the
Breathalyzer, with the same results mentioned in number 4. Some
breath machines have a mouth alcohol detector, but these are
highly unreliable.

About the Author: Lawrence Taylor is the senior member of an
AV-rated law firm of Las Vegas DUI lawyers practicing drunk
driving defense exclusively. See http://www.duilasvegas.com/
for more information.

Source: http://www.isnare.com