Accuracy of breathalyzer vs blood test!?!?!?

[Wetrippymayne]

Hello everyone I have a scientific question regarding the accuracy of breathalyzer vs blood tests. So just a little backstory. My friend is prescribed adderall and last week she had a ton of work. She took her adderall late in the day to work but ended up staying up all night because she took her adderall too late in the day and was so stressed over her work that she couldnt fall asleep. So the next day at 4am she was running on no sleep and crashed into a parked car. When police were called to the scene they found her passed out behind the wheel. They suspected she had been drinking or using drugs because they found her asleep behind the wheel and when they woke her up her pupils were dialated, her speech was slurred, and she failed the field sobriety tests. However, when given a breathalyzer it said that she had no detectable alcohol in her system. She was then escorted to the police station and 1-2 hours after the crash a blood test was taken to determine if she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. My friend says that she wasnt fucked up when she was driving and that she failed the sobriety tests and looked fucked up because she was running on no sleep and had a concussion from the impact of the crash. I trust my friend because she doesnt do drugs and I researched concussions and the initial symptoms are dialated pupils, lack of cordination, and slurred speech, so it explains why she looked fucked up. The only problem is that before the crash my friend drank a couple bottles of kombucha, which is supposed to be 0.5% ABV. My question is, how much more accurate is a blood test at detecting alcohol than a breathalyzer?? If you blow a 0.00 on a breathalyzer, is it possible that small traces of alcohol can still show up later in the blood test?? How accurate are blood tests vs breathalyzers? What is the cutoff level for blood tests??? If anyone has any personal experience or knowledge on the subject please let me know soon because I know my friend is innocent and I dont want her to go to jail for a crime that she didn't commit.

 

[chaos_destroy]

She took her adderall.....she doesnt do drugs.

Obviously she does now doesn't she?

They suspected she had been drinking or using drugs

Which she clearly was. Driving after being up all night on speed (adderall) sounds reckless to me. No wonder she crashed her car.

Was it 4AM or 4PM? If 4AM why was she driving around at 4AM after taking adderall in the first place?

I doubt a few drinks with only 0.5% alcohol would show up even in a blood test. What is the legal limit where she was? The blood test may however show amphetamine which if shown to be a contributor to the crash could get her in trouble even if it was prescription depending on the local law. I assume its not legal to drive stoned off your tits on prescription morphine either.

 

[Wetrippymayne]

Ahhh you spotted some contradictions, fair enough you have a good point. 4 AM, she had to commute to work. Legally drunk is 0.08 in our area but she is worried that if the blood tests come back with traces of alcohol then in court they will be able to say that alcohol was a contributing factor to the crash and try to get her for DUI. I realize that driving on prescription drugs is still considered a DUI, but amphetamines are metabolized quickly and she hadnt taken amphetamine for over 24 hours. There is a strong possibility that it could have been out of her system by the time of the crash, and even if it did show up, the concentration would be so low that it could be argued that it had little effect on her driving performance. She drives on adderall every day on her commute to work without any problems so its obvious that her lack of sleep and low visibility due to the time of day caused her to crash. As far as the field sobriety tests go, I understand why the officers would want to test her but pupil dialation, slurred speech and motor function, and confusion are all symptoms of a concussion(which her doctor later confirmed that she had). Thanks for the input, we are anxious to see the results.

 

[endotropic]

We don't answer drug testing question here on Bluelight and we can't offer legal advice either. I can tell you that breathalyzers attempt to determine blood alcohol level in relation to expired alcohol content, while blood tests measure the blood alcohol content directly - so the blood tests are necessarily more accurate. Blood alcohol levels also tend to drop fairly quickly so you have to consider the relative timing of the two tests as well.

Good luck to your friend, but I have to close this.

 

[sekio]

Driving on no sleep is still considered DWI in lots of locales even if you're totally drug and alcohol free.