Breath testing is the quickest, easiest, and most convenient way for a police officer to check your blood alcohol concentration; in addition to breath testing being quick and efficient, it is perhaps the most incorrect of all tests to determine BAC. In Tennessee, law enforcement utilizes the Intoxilyzer 5000 to measure the blood alcohol level in a driver’s body. The machine relies on Charles’ Law and Boyles’ law, fundamental chemical laws, which suggest that the amount of alcohol in the breath is equal to the amount of alcohol.
To obtain a breath sample, the police officer asks the driver to blow into a long, black tube. The machine captures a sample of deep lung air, and measures the amount of alcohol in the sample of deep lung air against several samples of known BAC concentration. The a chemical reaction occurs in the presence of ethanol (alcohol), and this reaction changes color based on the amount of alcohol is present in the breath sample. The Intoxilyzer uses infrared spectroscopy (IR) measure the color change, and to correlate the color to the amount of alcohol in the breath sample.
The breath test has been successfully challenged numerous times by the experienced DUI lawyers at Turner Law Offices, P.C. Our DUI attorneys will review the circumstances surrounding the breath testing, and determine any defenses you have related to the administration of the breath test for BAC purposes. Speak with one of our DUI attorneys today for a free, no obligation consultation.
