Determining Your Blood Alcohol Content

By David S Caldwell

Alcohol has been enjoyed for tens of thousands of years for its taste, sanitation, and relaxing effects on the body. However, only now are we highly dependent on personal automobiles for transportation. Thus, when you go out and drink, you are more likely to drive after drinking. Sadly, alcohol can negatively affect your driving capabilities, making you a danger to yourself as well as the other drivers around you.
Alcohol acts as a depressant on your brain and nervous system. This is hazardous for driving because you typically have dulled reactions and less coordination after drinking. At the same time, though, alcohol can trick you into thinking that you are perfectly capable to drive. Thus, many people make the decision to drive after drinking.
If law enforcement officers believe that you are driving while intoxicated, their main method to test your level of inebriation is to determine your blood alcohol content, or BAC. They will give you several tests to see if you are driving with a BAC that is above the legal limit.
The police has many different methods that they can use to estimate your BAC. First, they may decide to use machines like the Breathalyzer, Intoxilyzer, or Alcosensor. These devices use things like chemical reactions to determine your BAC. Typically, these machines are highly accurate.
Next, a law enforcement officials may choose to give you a field sobriety test. The different types of field sobriety tests check your coordination as well as eye movement to see if you are still capable of driving. You may be asked to perform the horizontal gaze or nystagmus test, which involves following a small light with just your eyes. You may also have to do the one-legged stand or the walk and turn tests.
Lastly, you can also choose to give a blood sample. This is the most precise way to determine your BAC unless someone tampers with the sample. Some police officers are able to draw blood, while most take you to a hospital or other certified facility to draw the blood.
When you are charged with a DWI or DUI, it can put a permanent blot on your driving record. You may have to report this mistake on a number of applications and other important paperwork for the rest of your life. To help you deal with the legal repercussions a DWI/DUI, you should visit the website of the DWI/DUI attorneys from Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C., today.
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