From time to time in our office we conduct breathalyzer tests to determine if some substance could cause false readings, or to see whether any unusual factor may elicit inaccurate results.
We discovered a few things that apparently nobody knew. For one, the Alco-Sensor IV used in Canada can retain alcohol on the fuel cell from a previous subject. We also confirmed that mouth alcohol can cause a false Fail in excess of 20 minutes from completing the last drink, contrary to contemporary police training. We could go on for days about calibration.
The breathalyzer tests or experiments that we almost never conduct concern ways in which you could beat the breathalyzer.
We know about the theories out there for ways to beat the breathalyzer, i.e. to have the device record a lower than actual blood-alcohol content. We also understand why people would like to kill the breathalyzer. But beating the breathalyzer has never been a big issue for us. Our job is to defend drinking-driving cases. We prefer to discover ways in which the reading is artificially high, rather than figuring out ways to make it artificially or otherwise low.
Still, it’s a question we are regularly asked: how can I beat the breathalyzer, i.e., can this or that method lower my reading. So, in the spirit of scientific discover, we intend to try out some of the theories that are often mentioned, others we’ve considered ourselves and some that seem to have gained traction, such as the peanut butter method in this YouTube video.
Admittedly we approach this with some bias (something supporters of the IRP scheme seem incapable of admitting) because we know how easy it is to get inaccurately elevated readings. We don’t think there is much, if anything, that you could do to generate artificially low breathalyzer tests. But we’re going to try.
And now, this is your chance to send us your theory. If we try it, and we probably will, we promise to report back.
Send us an email with your ideas on what could create artificially low or artificially high breathalyzer tests and we’ll try it out later in the week.
We intend to use a few Alco-Sensor IVs, an Intoxilyzer 400, at least two of our BAC Datamaster C instruments (the big beige unit in the police stations), an Intoxilyzer 5000 (used in Alberta and Ontario) and even one of our two antique Breathalyzer 900 units if we can get it going. And perhaps some other police issue breathalyzers that we find lost in the back of drawers around the office.
We will report on our results here on our blog.
Salud!