Is it permitted to refuse an ethylotest?
We hear and read about so many instances where drivers are charged with drunk driving that have caused accidents; sometime fatal ones. A driver who is found with an over the legal limit of alcohol in his blood is charged in a court of law and if found guilty, remanded, fined or sent to prison depending on the seriousness of the accident. But how do the police find how drunk they are is the question and this is where the breathalyzer comes in.
A breathalyzer or ethylotest as it is called in France is a device that is used to analyze the breath of an individual who is suspected of having over the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. It is usually done by law enforcement officers that arrive on the scene after an accident or stop you on the highway on suspicion of drunk or erratic driving. The results of any ethylotest are supposed to determine the levels of intoxication and if over the limit you can be arrested for drunk driving and remanded.
While an ethylotest obligatoire in certain countries, it’s not so in others, resulting in many drunken drivers getting away with it by having lawyers that can argue about the procedure. There’s no doubt that it is crucial for other road users to be safe from drunk drivers, but there are many circumstances that play a major role in determining how guilty or innocent a driver is and a thin line can be drawn between the two. Among the various arguments that take place are situations where the equipment used for the ethylotest is faulty or the reading itself is not a true barometer of the percentage of alcohol in blood.
How successful a defendant is will rest mostly on his defense lawyer who will no doubt question the results of the test, Accuracy of the ethylotest device, how well maintained it was and in what circumstances the police officers stopped the driver for questioning and testing his blood alcohol levels. Other defense arguments could include your driving record if it has been spotless for a long time and also your mentality at the time of being tested; such as being overwhelmed and stressed, all of which impact on the ethylotest resulting in high readings that could be a result of your anxiety.
Devices that are used for the breathalyzer is varied according to each country, but it’s always a case of blowing into the box, balloon or some sort of apparatus where the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in your blood is checked from the breathing sample you provide. Anyone over the legal limit of 0.8 of blood alcohol would be considered guilty and arrested forthwith.
While it is important for drunken drivers to be taken off the roads, there can be extenuating circumstances that makes a person not guilty, and if so; no time must be wasted in contacting a DUI lawyer to represent you. Although it’s possible for anyone to refuse the ethylotest, its better not to do so since this might be taken as an admission of guilt. In countries where ethylotest obligatoire, you cannot refuse the test which will put you in hot water in view of such countries already having their rules in place to arrest drunken drivers; no mater what the circumstances are.
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