Florida Breathalyzer Results – Increasingly Unreliable

Every defendant that has been charged with driving under the influence deserves a fair procedure. This includes a blood alcohol measurement that is extremely accurate. Regrettably, the reliability of a breath test by Florida law enforcement officials and highway patrolmen is not as reliable as the State of Florida would like you to believe. A Miami DUI Attorney can help determine if the breath results from a pending DUI charge are reliable and help you investigate the charges against you.

There are a number of factors that play a part in the unreliability of a Breathalyzer examination, which are discussed below:
Size of the individual being tested

One of the biggest concerns involved with the accuracy of the Breathalyzer examination is that the test does not take into account the size of the individual undergoing the examination. The Intoxilyzer device was actually designed to be used on a man that is fairly average in both size and weight, and it does not take into account that some individuals undergoing the test are much smaller or even much larger than a normal size. Thus, the results of the breath test can be seriously flawed.
Lung capacity of the person being tested

Additionally, different individuals are equipped with different lung capacities. This is relevant because the Breathalyzer measures the concentration of alcohol in the amount of air you blow into it. For example, a small woman is going to blow less air into the Breathalyzer than a large man. Conversely, a large man with a greater lung capacity can blow more air may in the Breathalyzer. In either instance, the results can be flawed because of the differing lung capacities.
Metabolism of the person being tested

Another factor that plays a serious role in the accuracy of a Breathalyzer test is the metabolism of the individual undergoing the test. A person’s metabolism measures how quickly your body can process and/or breakdown alcohol. This is significant because experts readily agree that it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes for alcohol to be absorbed into your bloodstream. Thus, if you have a few drinks at a restaurant or bar and then leave shortly thereafter to drive home and are pulled over, the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream will be significantly higher at the time you are ultimately tested than at the time you were driving. This can lead to an inaccurate test result.

The Associated Press report below discusses an extremely high Breathalyzer reading:

Presence of other non-alcoholic substances

Another leading problem with the accuracy of a Breathalyzer test is the fact that the testing device will often register the presence of other substances that are non-alcholic but contain a chemical property of alcohol. This is problematic because certain health conditions, such as diabetes, may lend themselves to an inaccurate test result. As an example, when a diabetics’ blood sugar is too high because they need insulin or some other reason, acetones are produced on the breath of that individual. Acetones are a form of alcohol and if this condition exists at the time of the Breathalyzer test, it will cause the device to register alcohol on the breath even when the diabetic individual has not been drinking. Physical side effects such as dizziness, slurred speech and loss of coordination are also characteristics of a diabetic experiencing ketoacidosis, which further exacerbates the problems and gives the appearance of impairment.

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:

In Florida, you can be convicted of driving under the influence if your Breathalyzer reading was at least 0.08 percent and you were in actual physical control of a vehicle. Alternatively, you can be convicted of a DUI if the state prosecutor can show you were actually impaired while you were in actual physical control of the vehicle. However, a large part of DUI convictions are based off of a Breathalyzer examination result.

Due to the fact that Breathalyzer examinations and the results are so inaccurate, and the widespread use of Intoxilyzer results being used to obtain DUI convictions, it is extremely import that you speak with a Miami DUI Attorney at Musca Law as soon as possible after your arrest to discuss your rights and the best way proceed in preparing a defense to your pending charges.