When determining whether a motorist has had too much to drink, law enforcement officers measure the amount of alcohol in that person’s system by administering a breath, blood, or urine test. The results, also known as one’s Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), provides a measurement of the weight of alcohol in a specified volume of blood. When that number exceeds a certain amount, a person can be arrested for driving under the influence. While these tests may seem totally objective, there are actually a variety of factors that could affect a person’s BAC results, resulting in unfair arrests and convictions. For help assessing your own BAC results and determining whether they are an accurate representation of your physical and mental state at the time of your arrest, please call our experienced Houston DWI attorneys today.
What is BAC?
When ingested, alcohol is absorbed through the walls of the stomach and the small intestine, where it travels into the bloodstream and then throughout the body and into the brain. Blood Alcohol Concentration, or BAC, is a term used to describe the amount of alcohol in a person’s body per volume of blood and is measured in grams per deciliter. In Texas, as in the rest of the country, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her BAC reaches .08 percent. Alcohol tends to be absorbed quickly and so can usually be measured accurately within 30 to 70 minutes of consumption.
Factors that Could Affect Your BAC Results
Gender
How fast a person’s body absorbs alcohol and the speed varies based on a number of factors, including the number of drinks someone has and the speed at which he or she ingests alcohol. However, one of the most important factors that affect BAC results is gender. This is largely due to the fact that women generally have less water in their bodies than men and more body fat per pound of body weight. Furthermore, alcohol is generally not absorbed into fat cells as easily as other cells, which means that more alcohol tends to remain in the blood of women than in men.
Weight
Weight is another important determining factor in how a person’s body absorbs alcohol. This is because the more a person weighs, the more water is present in his or her body and water dilutes alcohol. This means that the more water that is in a person’s bloodstream, the more likely it is that any alcohol will be diluted. Food in a person’s stomach can also affect the speed at which alcohol is absorbed into the blood.
Medication or Drugs
Taking medications or drugs won’t technically change a person’s BAC. It is important to note, however, that those who drink alcohol while taking certain drugs can feel more impaired, which can affect the ability to drive. This can, in turn, result in unfair and untimely arrests and convictions.
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Houston DWI Lawyer Tad A. Neslon
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