Your Seattle DUI Defense is Harder on “Average”

I read a great article from Lawrence Taylor on his blog yesterday called Guilty…of Being Average that I thought I’d talk about briefly. I won’t give you the whole post here, but there are some great things in there that point out not only the inconsistencies in the breath test but also the uphill battle your Seattle DUI attorney has to win your case for you.

The gist of the article is this – every breathalyzer test is based on the fallacy that all people have the same dimensions and share the same physical characteristics, characteristics that can vary widely from individual to individual. The primary physiological factor that is relied on in breath test science is the idea that the ratio of alcohol exhaled in the breath and alcohol in the blood is 1:2100. The problem with this, however, is that the ration of alcohol in the breath to alcohol in the blood can vary dramatically, between 1:1300 and 1:3000. This can create some dramatic difference in blood alcohol content:

For example, all breath testing devices depend on the assumption that the ratio between alcohol in the exhaled breath and alcohol in the blood is 1 to 2100. In fact, the machine is designed to produce a reading based on that assumption; the accuracy of the reading is directly dependent upon the accuracy of the presumption. Yet, the actual ratio in any given individual can vary from less than 1:1300 to more than 1:3000. So a DUI suspect with a true blood-alcohol level of .07 but a breath-to-blood ratio of, say, 1:1500 would have a .10 reading on an “accurate” breath testing instrument.

Is it impossible to determine the ratio for each individual to determine their true blood alcohol level? No. But it certainly makes the job of the prosecutor easier and makes the job of the Seattle DUI attorney more difficult.

If you are pulled over and investigated for Seattle DUI, it is important to know what you should do and the impact that it can have on your life if you make the wrong decisions. So, know your rights, know how to deal with the cops, and be responsible enough to not chance it if you think you might be too drunk to drive. It will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. And know that if you don’t I’ll be here to help, but we will be facing an uphill battle.

As always, thanks for reading the Seattle DUI Attorney News blog.

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