If you fail a breath test, it is natural to assume that you are going to face impaired driving charges. When the police measure your blood alcohol concentration (BAC), and it exceeds the legal limit — likely 0.08%, which applies to most drivers — they may presume that you were impaired, and serious charges could follow. These charges could lead to fines, incarceration, license revocation and much more.
However, there are ways to challenge a failed breath test. It is important to understand what these are, so here are three examples.
Calibration issues
First and foremost, you may want to ask to see the calibration and maintenance records for the breath test device. If it was not properly calibrated or if it had been neglected for a significant amount of time, were the results actually accurate? Were you truly over the legal limit?
Operational issues
Next, consider the officer who administered the test. Did they make any mistakes or errors? Did they have the appropriate training? If there were problems with how the test was administered, that could potentially invalidate the results.
Mouth alcohol complications
In some cases, having alcohol in your mouth can lead to an artificially high reading. For instance, maybe you only had one drink, but there was still residual alcohol in your mouth when you took the test. You may be able to argue that your actual BAC was well below the legal limit.
Legal defense options
Every situation is unique, so these challenges may not apply in every case. But it is important to understand that you do have legal defense options when facing impaired driving charges.