If you’ve been pulled over for a DUI or impaired driving investigation, one question you might be wondering is whether circular breathing can help you avoid failing a breathalyzer test.
Circular breathing is a technique commonly used by musicians to create a continuous airflow while playing wind instruments, but can it help beat a breathalyzer?
The short answer is no.
Circular breathing does not help you avoid a breathalyzer’s detection of alcohol in your system. Breathalyzers are designed to measure the alcohol content in your breath over a set period. Even if you are able to prolong your exhalation using circular breathing, it won’t change the fact that alcohol is present in your system, and it will still be detected by the device.
If anything, circular breathing may make the results of the test higher. This is because the more air you exhaust, the closer the air to the alveolar hairs in your lungs becomes. This air is closer to your blood stream and more saturated with alcohol molecules. The mucosal membranes surrounding the alveolar hairs tend to trap and absorb alcohol, leading to higher readings with longer exhalation.
Moreover, modern breathalyzers are engineered to account for the amount of breath that is expelled during the test, so attempts to alter the process through any type of breathing technique will not significantly affect the outcome.
Breathalyzers measure the ethanol in your breath, which directly correlates to your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The devices and instruments used by police are programmed to have to collect a certain volume of air at a certain exhalation rate before a sample is captured to be measured. Experimentation that we have done with the breathalyzer has shown only a 20% change in the reported BAC based on altered breathing patterns.
If you’ve been charged with DUI or impaired driving and are concerned about the accuracy of your breathalyzer results or believe that your test was flawed, Kyla Lee at Acumen Law can help. It is better to get legal advice and defend your case than to attempt to find a scapegoat or technicality that could suggest your readings are wrong.
With extensive experience in defending DUI cases, Kyla can challenge breathalyzer results, look into the circumstances surrounding your arrest, and explore all potential defences available to you.
Contact Kyla Lee for a consultation to discuss your case and see how she can assist in defending you against DUI charges.
