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How Does a Breathalyzer Test Work |
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Tuesday, 03 July 2007 |
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Las Vegas has earned a name for itself as one of the greatest attractions in the United States. This reputation draws individuals from all over the world to come and partake in its myriad delights; gambling, dancing, drinking and eating. There are very few who walk out of Las Vegas without a handful of memories, although many walk out several handfuls lighter in the pockets.
None of them ever consider that they will be walking away from Las Vegas without a driver’s license to accompany their lack of funds, yet this is precisely what happens to those individuals who come to Las Vegas looking for a good time and decide to follow it up by getting behind the wheel of a car.Driving while under the influence of alcohol is a very serious offense, perhaps made more so by the number of individuals on Las Vegas’s city streets. There are several methods by which officers on patrol can determine whether an individual has imbibed enough alcohol to warrant further investigation; these include roadblocks (if the lowering of a car window results in an alcohol scented draft being released out into the atmosphere chances are good that the owner of said window has probably been enjoying their evening to the extreme) and erratic behavior on the part of the driver while behind the wheel of their car (reckless behavior, inability to maintain lane positioning, fleeing from an officer of the law, etc.) In order to determine whether an individual who has been stopped is driving under the influence most officers will use a breathalyzer test. The breathalyzer allows the officer to determine almost immediately what an individual’s blood alcohol content is. A blood alcohol level of .08 or higher is considered to be under the influence. As it is not practical to ask an individual to give a blood sample when they are stopped by the side of the road officers use the alcohol content in a person’s breath to determine what their blood alcohol content is (the alcohol in a person’s breath is 1/2300 of what their blood alcohol level is).This gives the officer an accurate idea of how intoxicated an individual is and allows them to follow the proper protocol from there. How can alcohol appear in a person’s breath? Unlike many other substances alcohol is not digested out of the bloodstream on its first lap through. Instead, parts of it go to the lungs via the venous system and are exhaled out. This is the 1/2300 (or 1/2100, depending on whom you talk to) ratio that is used to determine a person’s level of intoxication. Breathalyzer tests are generally very accurate, and go a long ways towards keeping the innocent out of jail and the inebriated off the roads. |
