San Diego drunk driving criminal defense lawyers point out the .08% BAC law says that if you blow a .08 or higher, you can be in violation of this statute and be found GUILTY of this crime, sometimes irrespective of any other details regarding your case.

This is harsh if you consider that these machines are not particularly accurate in determining a person's BAC (blood alcohol content). Are these machines accurate and reliable? Consider the word of very learned and highly regarded experts in the field who have written numerous articles on these machines. In a nutshell, the machine utilizes a partition ratio (a formula) to calculate the ethanol that it senses on ones breath and to extrapolate out what it believes a person's blood alcohol content should be. The machine then spits out that number on a cash register sized piece of paper and you then have to fight the machine or be convicted of DUI.

The problem is that the machine utilizes a constant partition ration number of 2100:1 for all people. So the machine multiplies the parts of alcohol that it senses in the breath, it calculates that number by 2100 and it says the result is your BAC or blood alcohol content. Big, small, tall, short, male, female, black, white, Asian makes no difference the machine calculates 2100:1 partition ratio. Are all people made alike? Does the 6'8" NFL player have the same body makeup as the 5'2" soccer mom? I don't think so and either do the experts in the field.

The reality is that we all have different partition ratios that can range from as low as 1500:1 to as high as 2500:1 or higher. The machines however are programmed to take an average number of the average person. The problem is that we are all not average people, if we were we would all be 5'9" and 170lbs. So when the machine uses the wrong number, which does not match the partition ratio of the person tested there is a substantial chance that the number the machine yields will be erroneous; it could be erroneous by as much as 10-20% or more.

In addition to the foregoing, the method of the blow, or how you blow into the machine also has an impact on your number. There is a saying among those that work in field "the harder you blow, the higher you go" so when the breath test technician tells you to hold your breath and blow in the machine as hard as you can he is really saying "let's artificially maximize the number that you blow so that I can get an easier conviction in court."

The EC/IR machine requires a steady exhalation from the defendant which should last roughly 5 seconds in duration, the machine then measures the volume of ethanol in the trailing exhalation right before the volume of breath dissipates. If you hold your breath and blow as hard as you can, you are artificially maximizing the volume of ethanol exhaled into the machine from the deep lung which is then calculated at the partition ration as described above.

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San Diego DUI Lawyer Rick Mueller is a premier San Diego County Drunk Driving, DUI & DMV Defense attorney with over 25 years of experience. Known as a "DMV Guru," Rick Mueller dedicates 100% of his law practice to aggressively defending those accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. He has successfully saved the driving privileges of many clients in the past year alone. Complete the important Free San Diego County Drunk Driving Defense Survey to find out your best strategy and to protect your driving privileges in California.