My biggest gripe is not exactly what you blow either. I was pulled over once. It was a hot summer day and we just finished landscaping a home. I had drank about 2 gallons of water all day long. I was sweating more than I was drinking. We drank 2 bottles of beer in about 15 minutes. I was stopped about 5 minutes after I had left because of the trailer I was pulling. He asked me to take a breathilizer and I failed. I demanded a blood test and son of a gun, it was so low you couldnt even believe I had finished 1/2 a beer. I was let go needless to say but it was just that there was no physical impairment, just that it was on my breath. I never realy trusted taking a breathilizer.

 

Blood-test may give the alcohol more time to enter the blood stream if you've just finished drinking...

Your better off blowing the cop...

 

If you drink stuff like wine, or even cogniac... if you drink even 1/2 oz. and get a breath test 15 minutes later it might show you are drunk, but the blood test will show you are OK. Stuff like wine and cogniac (even in small amounts) stays and smells in your throat for a while, especially if you don't eat anything.
I find it very unjust to waste your time taking a blood test at the police station and in the end determined to be OK. What they going to tell you? Sorry, go home now... how about some compensation for the time lost.....(yeah right...)

 

same happened here

 

everyone should check to see if their police dept. does any DUI detection training for their BLET course. Me and some buddies did it and you would be supprised.

First hour, drank 5 ounces of vodka... waited 15 mins, then blew a .05 (they didn't tell us what we blew at this point)

second hour, drank 4 ounces of vodka... waited 15 mins and blew a .11 (.03 over the limit)

Then they ran the tests, which were a bunch of bull. By the time all the testing was done, about an hour, I was down to a .06.

And I definetly did not think I was drunk at .11... I know I have driven with a higher BAC then that.

 

The cops told us if you ever get pulled over to ask for some specific test... they said most cops do not know how to either perform it or document it so you have a greater chance of getting off with a technicality. I really shoulda writen that test down. Guess I was too drunk at that point to remember.

 

Slimey, just so I understand your position. No drinking at all and driving? Aka i can not have a beer with dinner and get in the car?

Completely agree that DRUNK driving is horrible and put the people in jail, take their car, fine them whatever. But a ZERO tolerance??? Well might as well get rid of alcohol all together. Not everyone drinks to get drunk, some just like the taste.

 

 

Also, this testing took place after work, and we were told not to eat anything. So we didn't get anything to eat till like 8pm.

 

I have no problem with drinking. I enjoy alcoholic beverages myself.

I don't condone drinking and driving, at any level. I think that if you give people a leeway to 0.08, then you are legislating that it's OK to drive with 0.079, which for some, will cause poorer driving performance. I also don't completely disagree with rDude - he's right, it's not all about the numbers, but I do think we have to start somewhere.

Maybe what I really mean is that we should ignore the numbers altogether and prosecute anyone that has measureable blood alcohol and is stopped for a traffic violation. Though, I don't necessarily agree with random stops of law-abiding citizens.

As I said way above, I also don't necessarily think the number should be zero, as there are errors in all testing protocols. I'd have to review the standard error of BAC measuring, but I would guess a 0.02 - 0.03 level would allow for this.

I'm also not proposing that someone is not due their due process. The BAC would be a datum for the state, but not necessarily the whole case.

I think that drinking and driving is too much of a public health issue to be left alone, or that the decision to drive after drinking should be left to a person who is possibly too impaired to make a resonable decision. I (obviously) realize I'm being a bit extreme, but we got to start somewhere -- I guess my way of thinking is to propose the extreme and then whittle back, as opposed to starting lenient and then clamping down.

If you have a beer or glass of wine with dinner and get in a car an hour or two later, your BAC would be negligible (unless you're a 85# waif or already in liver failure).

 

Does anyone know if smoking or having like breath mints or something has any effect at all on taking a breathilizer?

 

or does hiding a penny under your toungue actually work?

 

During that soberty test thing I did they said the penny has no affect. They were telling stories of when they do the mobile sobriety tests where the judge is onsite in a trailer, that they would find tons of pennies inside the trailer.

 

not that its a valid source or anything but mtv's urban myth show says its a myth. a penny doesnt help at all....

i hear breath assure gets rid of the smell of alcohol from ur breath.

i also find that eating a bag of like doritos is better than chewing gum for ur breath...