Acid Reflux Affects the Breathalyzer and Your BAC Reading

If you are one of the many individuals in this nation that have to deal with the pain of acid reflux, you already know that the burning sensation you experience is a symptom of the disease. Not only can this disease stay with you for life as an annoyance, but it can also affect a breathalyzer test and could possibly land you in jail with a Virginia DUI.

How Can This Happen?

What if you went out to dinner, had two drinks with your meal and felt fine, got in your car and were driving normally and obeying the laws, but had to stop at a Virginia DUI checkpoint? You may know that the two glasses of wine spread over the last several hours hasn't affected your driving, but your acid reflux may harm you in this case.

If a police officer asks you to step out of the vehicle and perform a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test or breathalyzer test, your acid reflux disease can be a hindrance in your blood alcohol reading. With this condition, alcohol comes from your stomach into your esophagus and can increase your BAC reading, resulting in a false positive when the test is administered. The breathalyzer machine assumes that the alcohol is coming from the lungs, which leads to an incorrect test result.

This is why certain experts believe that there are flaws with breathalyzers that can lead to a false blood-alcohol level. When alcohol comes up from the stomach and into the esophagus, it can elevate your BAC levels. If a test is taken during this time, the test will be flawed.

Even the state of your mouth can have an effect on the test, and lead to false BAC readings. When alcohol is left in your mouth it can increase your blood-alcohol reading. For example, alcohol may be trapped in residue on your tongue, saliva in your mouth, or even food stuck in your teeth. Because breathalyzers identify chemical compounds containing the methyl part of the molecule in alcohol, other factors besides drinking alcohol can give false positives, as methyl molecules are found in other substances. Even mouthwash that contains alcohol has been known to increase someone's blood-alcohol reading.

Just remember, the breathalyzer can be flawed, and a skilled DUI defense attorney will be able to look at all possible defenses available in your case to try and convince a jury that the breathalyzer reading was a false positive. A Virginia drunk driving lawyer will know what to look for and what evidence to present in court to convince the jury that the BAC test was flawed.

Call T. Kevin Wilson, an experienced Virginia drunk driving lawyer at the Wilson Law Firm, toll free at (800) DUI - LWYR or (703) 361-6100 today. You need a lawyer who specializes in this field and is known and recognized by his peers for doing good work. The Wilson Law Firm is known for achieving great results for their clients.

T. Kevin Wilson, an experienced DUI defense attorney, will spend time with you, answer your questions, thoroughly prepare your case, and let you know what to expect during the court process. He also wrote a book that will help you during this time that he would like you to have for free. Download your free copy of DUI/DWI Virginia Arrest Survival Guide - The Guilt Myth today.

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The lawyers of The Wilson Law Firm have traveled Virginia’s several interstates helping clients just like you - appearing in courts all across the Commonwealth of Virgnia - from Virginia Beach and Norfolk in the southeast, to Wise County in the southwest, all the way up I-81 to Frederick County / Winchester in the northwest, and all the way across Warren County, Fauquier County, Prince William County, and Fairfax County on the way to Arlington County and the City of Alexandria in the northeast. The Wilson Law Firm regularly serves Prince William County, the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, the towns of Haymarket, Fauquier County, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, the city of Fredericksburg, Loudoun County, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, the city of Falls Church, Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, Culpeper County, Warren County, Clark County, Frederick County and the city of Winchester.