Monday, March 5, 2012

Types of Breathalyzers

By Jesse McComb


For public safety, it is imperative that those who drive under the influence be halted in the process of this dangerous activity. To that end, the police and law enforcement bodies are being more careful than ever to see that they are not able to continue to drive while intoxicated.

In addition, for those who are accused of DUI, with so much stigma attached to the accusation, it is more important than ever to have representation from a criminal defence attorney or a criminal defence law firm in order to be able to defend yourself. Given the many problems that can take place in your life if you are accused of DUI, an impaired driving lawyer, who knows those laws inside and out will be your best chance of defense against the charge.

It's not at all uncommon today to read or hear about someone who has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence. In many cases, this person has not been transported to any medical facility in order to determine how much alcohol they have consumed. How is this accomplished by a law enforcement officer in the field today?

There are three main types of devices that will check for blood alcohol levels. These are:

The Breathalyzer device uses a chemical method to test the alcohol that is present in the blood. The alcohol which is present in the blood passes over a device that induces a color change which will give approximately the level of alcohol present in the blood.

The Intoxilyzer-Uses what is known as IR, or infrared spectroscopy for determining the amount of blood alcohol that is present in a person's body. In some cases, these may be installed on home phones or on cars in order to help when putting someone under house arrest.

The Alcosensor, which is another method of determining whether someone is above the legal limit of alcohol by gauging the amount of alcohol that is present in a special fuel cell that will measure the amount of alcohol in the blood based on this.

If you are accused of DUI, chances are good that you will be asked to do a field sobriety test. If you are not asked to do the field sobriety, quite likely a breathalyzer will be used to determine the level of your impairment. Make sure that you have an impaired driving lawyer with you as soon as possible in order to have your best chance to defeat the charges which may be levied at y ou.



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