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There are now breathalyzers that are near enough as accurate as blood tests that are admissible in court these days. But they are huge machines kept at the pol

• alkonaut 8y ago
  And that’s the type of machine being questioned in the article, not the roadside ones? Should be clearer - and if those bulky machines are replaced with blood tests (assuming they are much more reliable) I don’t see the problem. Having doubt in the test used to bring someone to a second test is fine. The second test is used for conviction so there can’t be any doubt.
• MertsA 8y ago
  >There are now breathalyzers that are near enough as accurate as blood tests But in the general case this is quite simply not possible. It might be very accurate in the controlled case of a subject who hasn't consumed anything in the past hour but these breathalyzers are not being used in a nice controlled environment. The concentration of alcohol in a breath can vary wildly compared to the concentration in the blood. If someone used e.g. mouthwash a few minutes before being tested it will indicate a high BAC even if it's actually zero. Unless the police are going to start forcing people to brush their teeth, clean their tongue, and use some form of non alcoholic mouthwash before testing you can't come close to the sort of accuracy that an actual blood test would give. In real world conditions there are too many situations where the concentration of alcohol in your breath is substantially different than the concentration of alcohol in your blood.