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There is a significant difference in the breath volume submitted in breath testing for women vs men.

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Attorney Tom Workman finds significant difference between breath volume of men and women during alcohol breath testing


There is a significant difference in the breath volume submitted in
breath testing for women vs men.

From the Florida data on the FDLE website, from about
85,000 breathtests, I analyzed the data by the
age of the subject and separated the data into male and female
genders.

The average for an age and gender
collects all of the samples from successful
breathtests for that age and divides by the total number of
samples. At every age, women supply significantly
smaller breath volumes than men.

There is a published discussion of this discrimination in a Law
Review article that I authored, available on the internet at:

<http://www.law.suffolk.edu/highlights/stuorgs/jhtl/docs/pdf/Workman_Article.pdf>http://www.law.suffolk.edu/highlights/stuorgs/jhtl/docs/pdf/Workman_Article.pdf

and cited as 8 J. HIGH TECH. L. 209 (2008).

This disparity is either the result of lung capacities that are
hugely different, or because males and females are not treated the
same by law enforcement (e.g. women are not bullied to keep blowing
like men are), or both. Whatever the cause, the results are an
unfair testing methodology.

In Florida, if the breath volume causes a refusal, and the volume
supplied is between 1 liter and 1.1 liters, you are three times as
likely to be female as male (someone who supplies over a liter >>IS<<
trying to comply). This is despite the fact that only about 20% of
all breathtest subjects in Florida are female. In Florida, you can
go to jail for failing to supply a "sufficient" breath
sample. People who supply over a liter of air >>ARE<< trying to
comply, and are physically unable to comply.

I also have a study that shows that the higher the volume from the
same individual, the higher the BrAC reading. This is based on the
Florida published data. This would penalize men if the difference
was caused by the administration of the tests, as opposed to the lung
capacity of the genders.

Thomas Workman
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