The Flaws in Breath Testing–Part I

I cannot tell you the number of people I talk to who say, “Well, the breath test says I blew over .08, so there is nothing I can do, right?” Wrong! What most people do not understand is that breath tests do not measure your blood alcohol level. Breath tests estimate your blood-alcohol level. They do that by using a lot of assumptions that assume everyone is the same. Do you really think everyone is the same? Hint: the answer is “no.”

This is Part I of a series of blogs about the assumptions that form the basis of breath testing, and why those assumptions are flawed. A breath test can be off, way off. While they are right much of the time, they are unfortunately wrong at the wrong times. As a result, innocent people are convicted of DUI.

I will start with explaining how breath testing is supposed to work. After that I will talk about the problems that occur. If there is something particular any reader would like me to comment on about breath testing, please let me know.