BreathaLIEzers

New York Times reveals harsh truth about standard test.

Juliana Strickler
Nov 3 · 4 min read

Every year in the United States of America, about 1.5 million people are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Each one is given a series of simple tests: the walk-and-turn, reciting the alphabet backwards, standing on one leg. That’s just the beginning.

The real test, which determines the fates of these 1.5 million people, starts when police present the driver with a small device to test the alcohol content of their blood. As they blow into the tube of this device, their blood-alcohol content is estimated. If it reads 0.08% or higher, conviction is imminent.

However, the reliability of breath tests, an integral part of the justice system has come into question. A New York Times investigation uncovered the shocking truth. These tests produce inaccurate results at an unnervingly high rate. Human error and lack of governmental oversight cause thousands of these tests to be thrown out. Over 30,000 breath tests have been invalidated within the past year in New Jersey and Massachusetts alone,

Breath tests are sensitive. Investigation results revealed that a significant reason why so many breath tests end up with skewed results is due in part to human error — specifically improper calibration. These can cause machines to display blood alcohol levels over 40% higher than they actually are, meaning that someone driving with a BAC of 0.06% can test as a false positive and may face unnecessary penalties. Since instruction is given independently at each police station, several officers even end up without proper education on how to administer breath tests.

Improper care has lead to many departments using their own — sometimes dirty — methods for checking blood alcohol content. The New York Times investigation revealed that one police department in Massachusetts had been using a machine infested with rodents to read breathalyzer tests. Some states were found to be using breath tests with their safeguards purposefully disabled, further skewing results in their favor.

Unreliable breath tests are a nationwide problem that has only just now came to light. Many judges across America have encouraged local attorneys to discontinue their use as evidence in cases, as was the case with polygraph results.

Breath tests are mandatory within the status quo. There are consequences in every state for drivers who refuse one when questioned by an officer. Incorrect results have lead to false convictions and arrests on numerous occasions. Many of these people were never told about skewed data’s involvement in their cases. These results are often thrown out in these cases, leaving many unsolved and cast aside.

Human error isn’t entirely to blame. Investigation reports revealed that a lot of the machines came with numerous software problems. Some have remained like this for years.

Defense lawyers have continuously tried to scan breath tests for inaccuracies. A majority of breath test companies refuse to sell to the public. Refusal makes checking for critical errors impossible, leading to further false convictions.

New Jersey’s Supreme Court granted access to defense lawyers to look into the breathalyzer company Dräger in 2007. The Alcotest 7110 machines received and examined had thousands of software errors. The Court ruled them to be “generally scientifically reliable,” but not without the reminder of their “mechanical and technical shortcomings.”

Dräger has since claimed their machines to be improved — not that it made a difference. States and independent police departments independently decide how to test, calibrate, and care for their devices. Different results and inaccuracies are a given — laws regarding use of breath testers vary from state to state. Vermont outlawed the Intoxylizer 8000 in 2005 for being riddled with error while it was still commonplace in Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oregon. Nothing is uniform.

Defense lawyers continue to look into breath tests, and breath test companies proceed to make more machines that become staples of local law. The State of Washington paid over $1 million to implement the Alcotest 9510 — never mind the fact that it was premature and “not yet ready for implementation.”

Inaccurate tests have already convicted thousands of people. There are around 42,000 people in Massachusetts and New Jersey who have been acquitted due to lousy breath test results. Equally shocking results present themselves in other states, such as Minnesota and Washington. Machines continue to round up, misread, and overanalyze people’s blood alcohol content while police deny requests to refuse.

Something needs to change. Throwing out all of the faulty test results would leave actual dangerous drivers back on the road as well as those wrongly convicted. Companies like Dräger need to take responsibility for their actions, as well as local police departments. Until then, this information should be spread around as much as possible.

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