It is very hard to gauge your intoxication level through self-analysis, so people may turn to chemical testing. Performing a breath test before you start your car could help you recognize when you are over the legal limit and should not drive.
Maybe you attend a trivia night at a local bar, and everyone tends to use the public breath test device to check their sobriety before leaving for the night. Perhaps you invested in a pocket breath test because you enjoy drinking socially and don’t want to put yourself at risk. When you check your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) using a chemical device, you likely trust the results it returns and will feel confident driving home if you were under the legal limit.
However, you could potentially cross paths with the police officer who tests you and then arrests you. They claim that you were over the legal limit. Is it possible for you to go from being sober enough to drive to over the legal limit in 20 minutes on the road?
Your BAC continues to rise after you finish drinking
The amount of alcohol in your bloodstream reflects numerous factors. Your metabolism, your weight, your sex and even what you ate that day can all influence how much alcohol reaches your bloodstream, how quickly it starts affecting your behavior and how long it takes your body to metabolize the alcohol and end your intoxication.
Unless you wait 30 minutes to an hour after you stopped drinking the test yourself and perform several checks at regular intervals, you will have no way of conclusively knowing whether or not your BAC might rise after performing a test. You need to recognize the limits of personal tests to avoid making a mistake that could lead to your arrest.
Could the test be wrong?
The possibility always exists either for the testing unit you used before you drove or the device employed by the police department to return inaccurate results. Tests can potentially return inaccurate results or even false positives.
There are numerous means by which you might defend against a drunk driving charge when you believe that you were technically sober enough to drive. Discussing the situation that led to your arrest with a criminal defense attorney could help you determine the best means of fighting back against drunk driving allegations.
