Miami DUI defense attorney John Musca finds that many people believe that breath test devices, known by the public as breathalyzers, must be extremely accurate. After all, you can be convicted of DUI if your breath test reading was at least 0.08 percent and you were in actual physical control of a vehicle. Alternatively, you can be convicted if the prosecution can show you were actually impaired while you were in actual physical control of the vehicle, notes Miami DUI lawyer John Musca.
Unfortunately, breath test results are not as accurate as they should be, where they are the primary evidence used to convict someone of a crime. DUI defense attorneys have been frustrated that the company that manufacturers the Intoxilyzer, the breath test machine used by Florida law enforcement agencies, has never released the source code the device uses to calculate a the amount of alcohol in a person's body.
Miami DUI attorney says that another major problem with breathalyzer inaccuracy is that the breath test devices often register the presence of either substances that are not actually alcohol at all or substances that are chemically a form of alcohol, but unrelated to drinking and driving. For instance, diabetics may blow high readings in certain circumstances - even if they have had nothing to drink at all. When diabetics' blood sugar gets too high, perhaps because they need insulin or did not properly regulate their food intake, their bodies produce acetones on the breath. The acetones are a form of alcohol and are a result of ketoacidosis, a medical condition directly related to the high blood sugar. This means that the breathalyzer will detect alcohol, even if the diabetic has not been drinking at all. Worse, the diabetic driver may display symptoms also associated with intoxication - dizziness, loss of coordination, and even slurring words can occur.
Below is a video in which a notable former Miami police officer tests the breath test reading with a solution designed to emulate the effect of ketoacidosis:
Unfortunately, breath test results are not as accurate as they should be, where they are the primary evidence used to convict someone of a crime. DUI defense attorneys have been frustrated that the company that manufacturers the Intoxilyzer, the breath test machine used by Florida law enforcement agencies, has never released the source code the device uses to calculate a the amount of alcohol in a person's body.
Miami DUI attorney says that another major problem with breathalyzer inaccuracy is that the breath test devices often register the presence of either substances that are not actually alcohol at all or substances that are chemically a form of alcohol, but unrelated to drinking and driving. For instance, diabetics may blow high readings in certain circumstances - even if they have had nothing to drink at all. When diabetics' blood sugar gets too high, perhaps because they need insulin or did not properly regulate their food intake, their bodies produce acetones on the breath. The acetones are a form of alcohol and are a result of ketoacidosis, a medical condition directly related to the high blood sugar. This means that the breathalyzer will detect alcohol, even if the diabetic has not been drinking at all. Worse, the diabetic driver may display symptoms also associated with intoxication - dizziness, loss of coordination, and even slurring words can occur.
Below is a video in which a notable former Miami police officer tests the breath test reading with a solution designed to emulate the effect of ketoacidosis:
