Utah Portable Breath Test DUI Defense Attorney

Salt Lake City DUI Defense Lawyer

Utah DUI Case Law

Portable Breath Testers / Preliminary Breath Testing (PBT)

Portable Breath Testers is also known as Preliminary Breath Testing according to the NHTSA.

The basic purpose of preliminary breath testing (PBT) is to demonstrate that association of alcohol with the observable evidence of the suspect’s impairment. The suspect’s impairment is established through sensory evidence: what the officer sees, hears, and smells. The PBT provides the evidence that alcohol is the chemical basis of that impairment by yielding and on-the-spot indication of the suspect’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The PBT provides direct indication of the BAC level. It does not indicate the level of the suspect’s impairment. Impairment varies widely among individuals with the same BAC level.

Id., at VII-7.

The NHTSA also identifies the advantages of a PBT.

• Corroborates other evidence observed or collected by the officer.
• Confirms the officer’s own judgment
• Discloses the possibility of medical complications construed to be alcohol impairment
• Helps establish probable cause for the arrest for DUI

Id., at VII-7 – VII-8.

The well-known limitations of PBT instruments are:

• The results of a preliminary breath test is inadmissible at trial
• The results are inaccurate because the instruments are not calibrated or certified by the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, despite Utah Code Ann. § 41-6a-515.

According to the NHTSA, there are two factors which tend to produce a high result on a PBT:

• The presence of residual mouth alcohol, including mouth wash.
• Breath contaminants, such as cigarette smoke.