Alcohol Abuse Advice

Dui Myths Explained: How to Protect yourself This Holiday Season

Do you know you’re at risk for being arrested for DUI this holiday season, even if you don’t plan on swallowing a single sip of alcohol?

If you get pulled over, are you aware of the simple way law enforcement officers can influence your blood alcohol concentration readings from a Breathalyzer?

If you take a field sobriety test, do you know how common it is for an officer to misinterpret your actions?

What you’re about to read could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees and insurance premiums, as well as countless hours of frustration. That’s because the facts under the next six bullets will help you protect your rights if you’re pulled over this holiday season and accused of DUI.

• Myth #1: The smell of alcohol on your breath is a sure sign of alcohol consumption or intoxication.

Fact: Since alcohol is odorless, odor strength is an unreliable estimate of alcohol consumption. What may be perceived as alcohol is more likely an ingredient(s) found in alcoholic beverages. After all, the breath of someone who drinks a non-alcoholic beer will smell the same as someone who consumes a beer with alcohol.

• Myth #2: If you don’t drink alcohol and remain “alcohol-free,” you won’t be arrested for DUI.

Fact: Your body continuously produces alcohol. During this process called “endogenous ethanol production,” you can create enough alcohol to become legally intoxicated. Additionally, smokers often have high levels of acetaldehyde, a compound in your breath that can be recorded as alcohol. Diabetics are also at risk for false breath test results due to hypoglycemia causing acetone in the breath, which is often recorded as alcohol as well.

• Myth #3: Breathalyzers measure blood alcohol concentration in your blood stream.

Fact: The only way to measure your blood alcohol concentration is by taking a sample of your blood. Breathalyzers attempt to measure the alcohol in your breath in order to estimate your blood alcohol concentration – a practice that is inaccurate up to 30% of the time under “ideal” conditions.

• Myth #4: Sucking or chewing on a penny, breath mint and certain types of gum can help you beat a Breathalyzer test.

Fact: None of these items will trick a Breathalyzer into a registering a false low blood alcohol concentration.

• Myth #5: Law enforcement officers can’t influence blood alcohol concentration readings from a Breathalyzer.

Fact: Studies show alcohol concentration during your breath varies considerably. In fact, the last part of your breath can have a blood alcohol concentration reading as much as 50% higher than your actual level. When officers encourage you to blow harder during the final moments of your test, they increase the probability the breath captured is from the bottom of your lungs where the concentration of alcohol is the highest.

• Myth #6: Law enforcement officers can accurately determine if you’re intoxicated using field sobriety tests.

Fact: During a 1991 study at Clemson University, 21 sober individuals (with a blood alcohol content of .000) were videotaped performing six common field sobriety tests. Fourteen officers – who didn’t know the people were sober – then viewed the videotapes and were asked to determine whether the individuals had too much to drink and drive. The officers concluded that 46 percent of the participants were too intoxicated to drive.

Of course, your best bet for avoiding a DUI is not to drink and drive. If you do drink, always have a designated driver.