Drinking and driving is dangerous on many levels. Not only does this increase the chance of an accident, but if you are convicted of such a crime it could turn your life upside down.

Due to the seriousness of this crime, you need to become familiar with the finer details associated with a drunk driving arrest. This means learning as much as possible about blood alcohol concentration, including tests that police use to determine if you are drunk.

Here are several questions to answer:

— What methods do police use to measure blood alcohol concentration? There are five bodily samples used to determine blood alcohol concentration, including: saliva, urine, breath, blood, and hair follicles. Even so, blood screening and breath analysis are the two most common.

— How does a breath test work? Known as a breathalyzer test, this gives police a way of collecting a person’s blood alcohol concentration at the time they are pulled over.

— How accurate is a breath test? Although these tests are not as accurate as blood tests, they are considered acceptably accurate in the court of law.

You hope that you are never pulled over for suspicion of driving under the influence, but this could happen at any point. Even if you are sober, a police officer could pull you over and test your blood alcohol concentration.

Knowing how blood alcohol concentration is measured is important. The same holds true with regard to your rights. Unfortunately, police have gone overboard with cracking down on this crime, meaning that innocent people are often targeted.

Source: FindLaw, “BAC Test FAQs,” accessed April 27, 2016

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