Alcohol Absorption
Why Fair Cops Don't Get Called to Court
Recently, a Santa Barbara police officer told me that as part of his training he was required to attend a school on the breath machine. He was amazed when a fellow officer was administered known amounts of alcohol in an effort to demonstrate the workings of the Breathalyzer.
What amazed him was he saw the officer consume seven gin and tonics, yet the breath results registered only 0.04 percent, his BAC was well below the legal limit. A similar occurance took place in alcohol studies attended North Carolina and San Francisco, and it illustrates my point. If the officer weighed 200 pounds and each drink he consumed was one ounce, the resulting blood alcohol level should be 0.13 percent.
So, either the machine was testing improperly or the officer was tested right after drinking and before the alcohol fully was absorbed into his blood stream. That is exactly what happens to the citizen who is stopped just as he is leaving a bar. He is 0.04 percent or 0.05 percent and “OK” to drive at that point in time, but 30 minutes to two hours later, as the alcohol becomes absorbed into his blood stream, he increases his blood alcohol level to 0.12 percent or 0.14 percent, over the legal limit.
Incredible, but true. Because of this physiological phenomenon we see people convicted of driving under the influence even though they are not guilty of violating the 0.08 percent law “per se.” Thousands upon thousands of people every day plead guilty based on an erroneous chemical test result over 0.08, never knowing they actually are innocent.
The statistics from the National Traffic Safety Council state that 80 percent of the DUI-related fatalities are caused by 10 percent of the DUI drivers. We in the trade call them the “Gamma Alcoholics.” These are sick people who repeatedly go through the court's revolving door, each time coming out a little more stripped of their social status, and each time coming out a little more dangerous to the rest of us.
That is because no one in the present system of justice has addressed adequately the causes for this continual alcohol abuse. Elected officials insist on making public policy decisions that look good to the voters but are not good for society. Instead of providing state resources for “Social Model Alcohol Rehabilitation Houses,” which have as much as an 82 percent non-recidivist rate and cause alcohol abusers to stop drinking for life, they'd rather lock them up in jails where they get no help for their drinking problem.
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Santa Barbara DMV Hearing Lawyer
