Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable

Re:Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable by lmm on Sunday November 03, 2019 @05:49PM (#21437291)

> So her blood alcohol could have been higher or lower when she was arrested depending on the timing of her last drink.

I don't follow - it's not like she drank more on the way between the bar and the police station, is it?

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Re:Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable by yissp on Sunday November 03, 2019 @05:56PM (#21437330)

Apparently it can take up to 2 hours after consumption for alcohol to enter your bloodstream https://www.driverseducationusa.com/resources/alcohol-absorp... so if she had a drink immediately before leaving presumably her BAC could be higher an hour later?

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Re:Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable by timcederman on Sunday November 03, 2019 @05:52PM (#21437303)

If she hadn't drunk anything a while before leaving, it'd likely be lower. If she'd had a drink immediately before leaving, it'd have been higher.

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Re:Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable by cwkoss on Tuesday November 05, 2019 @01:51PM (#21455384)

Maybe she ate a meal, then had a single sip of a friend's drink before walking out the door. The alcohol vapors in the mouth can cause breathalyzers to register high.

In college, I had a breathalyzer and had fun scaring my friends by aerating some vodka in my mouth right before blowing - I've registered 0.34% when my actual BAC was closer to 0.04%

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Re:Alcohol breath tests are often unreliable by rustybelt on Sunday November 03, 2019 @05:51PM (#21437299)

If she had a drink right before leaving, the alcohol might not have made it into her bloodstream yet.

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