Drivers who have had a few drinks will often have a sinking feeling in their stomach if they see the lights of a law enforcement vehicle behind them. They might start to wonder how they can get out of having to face criminal charges. The most basic answer to this is that if you are impaired, the chances of facing those charges is great.
One way that police officers determine impairment is through the breath test. There are a lot of mistruths going around about these. A few of them have to do with ways that you can trick the machine into thinking that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) isn’t at or above the legal limit. If you fall for those myths, you are likely going to be disappointed.
You can’t mask a breath sample, so trying to use mouthwash or breath mints isn’t going to change the result of the breath test. In fact, you could actually end up with a higher reading because many mouthwashes and breath mints contain alcohol.
You can’t voluntarily control the exchange of gases in your body. Trying to do things like burping or holding your breath isn’t going to work to change the results. If you try doing either of these, there is a good chance that the officer will realize what you are doing.
Drinking coffee or water or eating food isn’t going to lower your BAC. Your body metabolizes the alcohol at a specific rate, and you can’t change this by consuming food or drinking something.
Another old myth is that sucking on pennies can change the result. It was once thought that copper pennies in the mouth could trick the machine. Not only is this completely bogus, but it also isn’t even a good theory since pennies are comprised of a majority of zinc.
If you are facing a drunk driving charge, there are some options that you have for fighting the breath test result, but none of them have anything to do with those myths. Instead, you need to look at things like improper calibration or medical conditions that can cause a false reading.