Santa Fe New Mexico DUI Arrest
Reader’s Question:
I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico and I haven’t been arrested ever for driving under the influence, though I have to admit that I do drink and drive sometimes. I heard from someone that the presence of mouth alcohol can contaminate the breath alcohol test results. How true is this and how can this happen?
Abigail
Santa Fe, NM
It’s good to know that even though you drink and drive, you have not been caught drunk driving in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can be considered as lucky, then. Anyways, regarding your question, it’s true that the presence of mouth alcohol can actually contaminate the breath alcohol test results. DUI breath testing machines detect alveolar air of the deep lungs, which is loosely correlated with blood alcohol level. But these breath testing devices can be “tricked” by latent alcohol in the mouth-often caused by belching, burping, or the recent use of breath spray, cold medicine, cough syrup or mouthwash.
The breath testing device gives blood alcohol content (BAC) readings greatly higher than the true BAC when it picks up mouth alcohol rather than deep lung air. This becomes a particular problem for DUI arrestees with braces, cavities, dentures, denture adhesives, food impactions, orthodontic work or who have food particles trapped between their teeth because all of these conditions tend to produce mouth alcohol.
Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI advice, DUI lawyer
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