A breath test, often called a Breathalyzer, is a common test that police officers will use to determine whether or not someone is over the legal limit. They have other options, such as blood tests, but breath tests are one of the most common ways to get a blood alcohol content (BAC) reading. This BAC level can be used to determine if someone is presumed to be impaired.
That said, you do not always want to assume that the breath test is accurate. What if you’re not impaired and it says your BAC is at .09 percent or above? You could get arrested, unable to believe that the officer thinks you’re drunk.
It does happen. One potential issue is that the breath test device may not have been calibrated recently or correctly. If this hasn’t been done on the proper set schedule, can you actually trust the results from the test? Or is it just going to give you random, inaccurate results? When officers base an arrest on a testing device, they have to know that the device actually works properly.
You could also run into issues if the officer in question uses the device improperly. Maybe he or she just made a mistake. Maybe no one ever trained the officer, so they didn’t know how to use it. Either way, you have to start questioning the validity of those test results, don’t you?
Breath tests may be useful for officers, but you can see that they open up a lot of questions about an arrest. Be sure you are well aware of the legal defense options that you have.
