Blood Alcohol Concentration in Brea
Consuming alcohol impairs a person's mental and physical ability to function normally. When it comes to driving, the law states that you should not drive if you are intoxicated because you could very easily endanger others and yourself. Some short-term effects of consuming alcohol include slurred speech, distorted senses, blackouts, or breathing difficulties. Even more alarming are the long term effects of alcohol, which include its negative effects on the brain’s communication pathways, heart damage, liver inflammations, and numerous serious cancers.
Because of alcohol’s effects on your ability to pay attention, make fair choices, and negatively impact one’s vision and senses, drinking and driving is considered incredibly reckless behavior. Not only are you putting yourself in serious danger but everyone else around you is also being put at risk. There are drivers that do not hit others and they get into accidents that don’t involve any other parties. However, instances where the driver under the influence hits another sober driver(s) are just as if not more common. If you are operating a motor vehicle, you can be arrested and your driver license suspended on the spot if you have a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher in Brea.
It is, therefore, important to understand what the BAC is and under what conditions you can be arrested or have your driver's license suspended.
What is the BAC?The Blood Alcohol Concentration or Blood Alcohol Level is a measurement of the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood. It is measured using a breath test or a blood/urine test.
More specifically, when a breath test is used, the BAC is a measure of the grams of alcohol for every 210 liters of breath. When a blood test is used, the BAC is a measure of the grams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. Both measurements are represented as a percentage. There are a number of factors that affect one’s BAC. These factors include weight, sex, medications, food, and the number of drinks within a certain period of time. In addition, the type of drinks also matter. For example, while a 12 oz. regular beer might be 4.5% alcohol, a one 1.5 oz. shot of hard liquor may contain 40% alcohol.
BAC Limits for DriversIf a law enforcement officer suspects that you are driving under the influence, you can be asked for a blood/urine test, before and/or after you are arrested. The following BAC limits will get you in trouble:
- If your BAC is 0.08% or more and if you are 21 years old or above
- If your BAC is 0.01% or more and below 21 years old
- If your BAC is 0.01% or more and if you are on DUI probation and
- If your BAC is 0.04% or more and if you are a Commercial Driver’s License holder.
If you are detained or arrested for a DUI because of a high blood alcohol concentration in Brea, it is important to have a competent DUI attorney on your side to guide you through the serious legal process ahead if you.
Call us as soon as possible to begin your DUI defense.