North Carolina DWI Breath Test Defenses

During a court case, most people would assume that the evidence presented is accurate. Unfortunately, this is not always true during drunk-driving cases. Contrary to what you may think, the chemical tests that are used to determine a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) are not always 100 percent accurate.

If you have recently been charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Charlotte after failing a blood, breath, or urine test, you need to contact an experienced DWI attorney. A skilled attorney will know how to challenge the results of an inaccurate breath test. Given that a drunk-driving conviction leads to jail time, fines, and a license suspension, it is in your best interest to hire an attorney who is aware of North Carolina’s breath testing device flaws.

To the average person, it would seem that the breath testing device measure the amount of alcohol in your blood. However, it simply measures the alcohol that is in your breath and calculates this to determine the BAC level. This means that the reading the device shows is simply an estimate, not an exact measurement. This can be a problem, because the machine assumes that everyone’s breath-to-blood ratio is the same. However, this is not always the case – a breath test reading may be greatly inflated if the person’s ratio differs from the norm.

Breath-testing devices, sometimes referred to as Breathalyzers, have other problems with estimating BAC levels. These tests do not consider factors, such as the age, health, or weight of the driver, which impact the test results. Since everyone’s body metabolizes alcohol at different rates, your BAC may range from 0.04 percent to 0.12 percent if your breath test result showed 0.08 percent.

There are many physical and dental problems that lead to an inflated breath test. Acid reflux and certain types of dental work will impact the results of your BAC test. Even using mints or mouthwash will affect your results.

Your attorney will check to make sure the machine you were tested on was properly maintained and calibrated. If it wasn’t, the results of your test may be inadmissible in court.

If you have recently been charged with DWI after failing a breath test in Charlotte, you should contact a local defense attorney as soon as possible.

Get a Free Case Evaluation Right Now!