Police officers have used chemical breath tests for drunk driving enforcement for decades. They have people blow into testing units that scan for alcohol in their exhaled breath.
Many people in Texas convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenses have those records because of a failed breath test. Their driving may not have been that bad, but the breath test showed that they were over the legal limit.
When someone has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, they can no longer legally operate a motor vehicle. If the breath test results during a traffic stop or after a car crash show a driver was over the limit, police officers will likely arrest them. Those accused of DWI offenses may plead guilty because they assume that they cannot fight back after failing a breath test. However, breath testing isn’t as infallible as people like to think.
Many issues can affect the accuracy of a breath test
Did you know that defense attorneys frequently challenge the accuracy of breath test in court and win? There are many reasons why you might have grounds to question the breath test results obtained as part of your case.
You might have medical issues that affected the accuracy of the test. There could also be medication that you take that could affect the test. Even certain trendy diet plans could lead to a false positive on a chemical breath test.
The test may fail for external reasons and not anything to do with you. If your personal background doesn’t yield an explanation for why the test results don’t align with your perception, then police department records might help. Inadequate maintenance or failing to calibrate chemical breath test devices could affect the accuracy of test results. In fact, even out-of-date software could play a role in a test returning the wrong BAC level.
Know your defense options before you make big decisions
Challenging a test is only one of several ways you could fight back against a DWI charge. Once you plead guilty to a drunk driving offense, you will have a hard time mitigating the consequences of that decision. Learning more about DWI charges and court cases can help you plan a defense strategy to present in the Texas criminal courts.