When you get pulled over by the police on suspicion of impaired driving, whether you are in Illinois or St. Louis, Missouri, one step they may take is administering a breath test. This is designed to gauge your blood alcohol concentration, as it is illegal for most drivers to operate their vehicles with a BAC over 0.08%.
Some drivers assume that a positive breath test means they are definitely going to be convicted on these charges. But the reality is that you can often challenge the results of a breath test. Let’s take a look at a few ways to do so.
Mistakes by the officer
For one thing, you may believe that the officer made critical errors while administering the test. For instance, perhaps it turns out that the officer was never given proper training, so there is no guarantee that they actually knew how to administer the test correctly. Are the results of that test still reliable enough for a conviction?
Issues with the device
There can also be significant issues with the breath test device itself, such as if the police did not use an approved make and model. Even if they did use an appropriate test, there may be questions about whether they carried out the necessary maintenance and calibration. Was the test actually providing an accurate result?
Artificial BAC inflation
Finally, there are some situations in which your BAC could appear to be higher than it really is. One example is if you burp during a breath test or if you still have alcohol content in your mouth. Even if you only had one drink, if there is alcohol in your mouth when you take the test, it could make it look like your BAC is far higher than it actually is.
These are just a few examples of ways to challenge a breath test, but they help show why you need to know about all of your legal defense options when facing drunk driving charges.