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Bob Keefer: Virginia DWI DUI & Drunk Driving Lawyer representing people charged in Virginia with DWI DUI & Drunk Driving
- Bob Keefer: Rockingham DWI and DUI Lawyer: Even Puck from Reality TV gets charged with DWI/DUI.
- Bob Keefer: Virginia DWI/DUI Lawyer: Even NFL Bengal Linebacker Rey Maualuga gets charged with DWI/DUI.
- Another college football player punished before trial for a DWI charge: Carlos Dunlap
- Diabetics get mistaken for Drunks by Virginia's breath tester
- Bob Keefer: Woodstock Virginia VA DWI DUI & Drunk Driving Lawyer: Deputy does not get fired for perjured testimony to convict DWI defendants.
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Bob Keefer: Virginia DWI DUI & Drunk Driving Lawyer representing people charged in Virginia with DWI DUI & Drunk Driving
- Bloodshot eyes are no longer considered to be a clue of impairment by alcohol. There are just too many other causes in the normal environment. See attachment E. page 10 of the NHTSA publication: "The Detection of DWI at BACs Below 0.10."
- Attached is a 2003 study called “Nystagmus Testing in Intoxicated Individuals”. Page 2, paragraph 6 reads: “Virtually all normal individuals can make smooth pursuit eye movements to track targets up to 30deg/sec…. If a target moves too quickly for the smooth pursuit system to track accurately, brief catch-up saccades will be interposed……and the eyes will been seen to jerk as they follow the stimulus.”
Q: I have Type II diabetes, but don't use insulin. Can this condition cause acetone that can produce a higher Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) test result?
A: Diabetes is a very common disease in this country. It is estimated that 15 to 20% of all drivers are diabetics. A motorist experiencing low blood sugar can suffer slurred speech, weakness, loss of coordination, problems with balance, confusion, impaired vision and inability to function with divided attention. The same symptoms an officer is looking for in a driver impaired by alcohol.
Unfortunately, the breath machine is not guaranteed to expose the officer's mistake. The Intoxilyzer 5000, presently in use in Virginia does not measure the amount of alcohol in the blood. Instead, the box uses infrared light shined through the subject's breath to indirectly determine quantity of alcohol.
Unfortunately for the accuracy of the test, the light beams are absorbed by any compound (including ethanol) that contacts the "methyl group" within its molecular structure. The box assumes that the only thing absorbing light is ETOH. The greater the absorption, the higher the bac reading.
Unfortunately, thousands of compounds incorporate the methyl group and thus register as alcohol. One such compound is acetone. Diabetics produce acetone as a byproduct of hyperglycemia in a state called ketoacidosis.
The Intoxilyzer will often read significant levels of alcohol on a diabetic's breath, where in fact there may be little or none at all.
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Bob Keefer: Virginia DWI DUI & Drunk Driving Lawyer representing people charged in Virginia with DWI DUI & Drunk Driving:
- Intoxilyzer 5000 will read positive from a cell phone being on.
- False Breath readings on the Intoxilyzer 5000
- Busted: A Citzens Guide To Surviving Police Encounters