With its many restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, Lincoln has plenty of places to enjoy a cocktail, craft beer or glass of wine. If you drive after consuming alcohol, though, an officer may stop you on suspicion of drunk driving. To either confirm or dispel this suspicion, the officer may also ask you to breathe into a testing device.
A breath test measures a person’s blood alcohol concentration. If a test indicates your BAC is above Nebraska’s 0.08% legal limit, you may find yourself in handcuffs. You should realize, though, that breath tests do not always produce accurate results. Rather than blindly accepting the validity of a DUI breath test’s results, you may want to consider whether one of these issues has caused the breath test to indicate your BAC is over the legal limit when it really is not.
The officer’s actions
Breath testing devices are machines that require regular and careful calibration. If an officer does not follow protocol when calibrating the device, its results may not be reliable. The same is true if an officer stores the device incorrectly or administers the test improperly.
Your diet
Some foods may trick a breath test into believing your BAC is over the legal limit. If you eat protein bars, ripe fruits, nuts or dairy products, you may have this problem. Eating a low-carbohydrate or ketosis diet may also interfere with a breath test.
Your medical conditions
Breath tests have come a long way in recent years. Nevertheless, even modern tests sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between gastrointestinal issues and an elevated BAC. If you have acid reflux, heartburn or GERD, the testing device may not be accurate. Similarly, some medications, such as albuterol sulfate for asthma, may confuse testing devices. If you suspect that your medical issue could affect the test results, you may want to mention this to the officer.
