Reader’s Question:

I have read an article that alcohol may not be detected by merely the smell of it. If that is the case then, can we say that the odor of alcohol is not enough for DUI arrest in Houston, Texas?

Shanice

Houston, TX

Yes, the odor of alcohol is really not enough for a DUI arrest in Houston, Texas. A study shows that police may not be able to detect the odor of alcohol on the breath of motorists who are pulled over for investigation. The smell of an alcoholic beverage on the breath of a motorist is very often used by police to create reasonable belief that the person has alcohol in his/her body. A police officer who forms this kind of belief can demand that the person provide a sample of breath into a portable breath test (PBT) device. A person who registers positive on the PBT would be arrested for DUI and taken for breath tests to find out the amount of alcohol in his or her system.

In a recent study, 20 experienced police officers were asked to detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage on the breath of 14 subjects who had blood alcohol content (BAC) that ranges from .00 to .13%. The drinking subjects were not seen in the experiment. The odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected in 2/3 of the subjects for BACs that are below .08%, and 85% of the time when BACs exceeded .08%. The police observers were less successful in detecting the odor of alcohol after food consumption by the drinking subjects. Moreover, the officers were unable to recognize what type of beverage was consumed and it was found that the strength of the odor as noted by police doesn’t have correlation to BAC levels.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI arrest