Going out for drinks – after work or at the end of a long week – is a fairly common practice. And most people don’t give it a lot of thought. They figure they deserve a little R&R after a hard day or week. But they rarely stop to consider the consequences of those drinks if they opt to drive themselves home afterward. Buzzed driving – even if they’re not falling down drunk – is still drunk driving. They’re still breaking the law and they could still harm innocent people by their actions. And they’re still going to get pulled over by the police for just cause and then evaluated for driving while intoxicated.
If you are pulled over and the officer asks if you’ve been drinking, usually the first thing they’ll do is take you through field sobriety test. This is to determine whether or not you’re fit to drive. However, a field sobriety test won’t tell the officer just how much you’ve had to drink. A breathalyzer will do this quite nicely. The officer will simply have you blow into the breathalyzer and, in a few moments, he or she will know exactly how much you’ve had to drink. Or, rather, they will know what your blood alcohol level is. Your blood alcohol level is affected by your weight, your gender, and how much you’ve had to drink in a certain period of time. Some people think they can trick a breathalyzer, either by sucking in when they’re supposed to be drinking, or by eating a mint or some other technique they likely heard from a friend or read on the internet. The truth is that there is no easy way to trick a breathalyzer, so if you’ve been drinking, a breathalyzer will definitely let the officer know.
Sometimes the breathalyzer test isn’t enough. This can occur when the officer can’t seem to get an accurate reading, or if the person refuses the breathalyzer. There are some states that allow an officer to arrest a person right there on the spot if they refuse a breathalyzer so that they can go down to the station to do a blood alcohol test. This is where your blood is drawn right there on the spot. Your blood will obviously give the most accurate reading of what your blood alcohol content really is.
Whether you take the breathalyzer test or the blood alcohol test, or both, you are providing the police with the evidence they need that you’ve been drinking while driving. All of this evidence is admitted in court. That means you won’t be able to talk your way out of it if you have been drinking and the breathalyzer and blood alcohol tests confirm it.
The next time you want to go out for a few drinks, think about how you’ll get home afterward and make arrangements in advance. Plan to have a designated driver who will transport you home. Know someone you can call for a ride at the end of the evening. Or plan to take a cab home. If you don’t, your next stop just could result in jail time, a huge fine, a lot of embarrassment, and even getting fired – and that’s assuming you don’t get into an accident and hurt or kill someone behind the wheel first.
The article is by Robin Saunders, an experienced writer that tackles different topics such as alcohol, breathalyzers, DUI etc. The author owns an Alcohawk himself, get one for you and your family.