DUI Laws are discriminatory

[halbert1234]

Aren't drunk driving laws discriminatory since men and women absorb alcohol differently. Aren't the laws biased towards men and fat people?

[Dr Ilya Polishuk (Israel)]

The drunk driving laws are based on the outdated scientific concepts of 30th-50th and they are discriminatory through many factors, not just the absorbtion of alcohol. I would say the major factor is the volume of the upper respiratory tract. Many of such arguments have rised during the state of NJ vs Foley (you can google it).

[Forensics Guy]

Drunk driving laws are not discriminatory. They don't make reference to gender or weight at all. They simply put a maximum allowable alcohol concentration, or say "impaired" which is highly subjective, but not discriminatory.

If you are lighter, or have a higher fat content in your body, your alcohol concentration will rise quicker per "drink" when compared to a leaner, larger person.

The laws aren't biased, individual biochemistry is biased. If it REALLY irks you, work out and put on a lot of muscle, then you can "drink more" and not get "as drunk".

[Dr Ilya Polishuk (Israel)]

I think the issue is very complicated from the moral point of view (discriminating/not discriminating). The driver can know the speed and other parameters of his/her car. But he/she cannot know the alcohol content in his/her blood and moreover in his/her breathe. So from the very beginning the laws are problematic, because the citizen often can't know if he/she breaks them or not.

I am not a lawyer, and I express just my personal opinion. I think that the DUI laws are very special at this point and different from many other laws. And this is in fact an origin of discrimination.

I hope in future things will get changed. Not the concentration of this or other substance in this or other part of human body, but the performance and the ability to drive should be checked. I believe it will solve also the problem of discrimination.

[Forensics Guy]

You make a good point that many times the impaired driver has no idea they are "above the limit". This is for two reasons:

1) The alcohol itself impairs their ability to make such a determination.

2) Most people have no way of knowing what their BAC or BrAC is.

The short answer is, that if one elects to drink, it is up to the drinker to make sure they are not above the legal limit when driving. They can do so by either having a designated driver, or electing to put an ignition interlock in their vehicle.

Either choice is has it's inconveniences. But if someone elects to participate in the risky behavior of drinking and driving, it is up to them to make sure they are doing so legally, and not put other drivers in danger.

If someone is later arrested for drunk driving, they should certainly hire an attorney to protect their rights, and hire appropriate experts to make sure the state has their information correct. But complaining that since they are a 90 pound female and that's why their BAC was above the legal limit, and they wouldn't have been above the limit if they were a 350 pound football player, and that makes the law "discriminatory" is beyond ridiculous.

[Dr Ilya Polishuk (Israel)]

I agree that the major responsibility is on the driver. However let us consider the following situation:

1) A country without public transportation (at least on weekends).

2) The breath tests can be made randomly, without a previous suspicion. An option of blood tests is considered only in the cases of heavy accidents.

3) The official sources (the TV, the booklets of driving theory and even the police itself) publish the "scientific" information how much the law allows to drink: 2 beers, half glass of wine, etc

4) The light drinking culture is promoted my mass media – there is almost no "kitchen" TV program without some glass of wine. On the other hand the promotion of sober driving is weak. Most of the people have no idea about the punishment.

In most of the cases I was invited to testify the clients are responsible normative not alcoholic people: students, artists etc. Most of them got arrested near the wedding halls or restaurants (where the police typically make ambushes). The BrAC results are typically low, usually below the American legal limit. All of them claim that they drunk a few and were pretty sure that they are 100% OK and the arrest was a total surprise for them. Then I think that in fact there is a sort discrimination. If they could have a bigger respiratory tract, or at least were breathing "cleverly" (making hyperventilation) – many of them could avoid this tragedy.

[Lawrence Taylor]

Yes, current DUI/drunk driving laws are discriminatory....in the sense that the blood alcohol level varies due to the unique (1) alcohol metabolism (absorption and elimination) and (2) physiology of the individual. These variations in blood-alcohol test results can be due due to such factors as the sex, race, physiology and medical condition of the individual tested.

For further discussions of some of these factors, see my posts on my blog DUIblog.com, such as:

Do DUI Laws Discriminate Against Women?

Alcohol and Race

Drunk Driver?...or Diabetic?

GERD, Acid Reflux and False Breathalyzer Results

Can Body Temperature Affect Breathalyzer Results?

Convicting the "Average" DUI Suspect