 
Until recently, law enforcement agencies in Orange County, California, used one of the larger so-called "breathalyzers", or "evidentiary" breath alcohol machines that were typically kept on a table top at the police station. Some of the models included the Intoxilyzer 5000, Intoximeter 3000 and DataMaster. Because of the technology, size and their stable environment, these were relatively sophisticated pieces of equipment capable of comparatively reliable performance.
Officers in the field conducting DUI investigations had to rely upon techniques such as field sobriety tests to determine a suspect's state of sobriety. A few years ago, however, some companies began to manufacture small, handheld devices which came to be called "preliminary alcohol screening" devices, or "PAS" units. These are inexpensive and primitive, but could be used in the field by officers as a type of field sobriety test to help them decide whether to make an arrest or not. Some of these devices only registered "pass" or "fail"; others indicated whether the blood-alcohol level was over or under .10%. The more advanced ones indicated an actual blood-alcohol concentration (BAC).
Whereas the larger "breathalyzers" at the police stations generally utilized sophisticated infrared spectroscopic technology in analyzing breath for alcohol, the PAS devices used a relatively primitive fuel-cell method of detecting and measuring alcohol.
Because of their relatively primitive and unreliable nature, however, the test results were not legally admitted into evidence to prove a specific BAC. If anything, they were admitted only as a field sobriety test which was passed or not passed or, along with other evidence, to establish "probable cause" to make an arrest.
In a test case in Ventura, however, a court permitted the test results into evidence to prove the actual BAC. Since then, the use of PAS devices has spread and, in an increasing number of jurisdictions in California -- including Orange County -- the test results have been admitted into evidence. In most states, and in many California jurisdictions as well, the PAS readings are still kept out of evidence: only BAC results from blood tests or the larger "evidentiary" breath tests are admissible.
Because of the low cost of the PAS devices, their convenience (they will fit into an officer's pocket), and their ability to take a reading in the field immediately after the observed driving, their use spread rapidly. Today in Orange County, only the Huntington Beach Police Department continues to use the expensive, evidentiary-quality larger machines; all other agencies have opted for cost and convenience over accuracy and switched to PAS units exclusively. And the results of PAS tests are now accepted in all courts of Orange County.
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Breath Machines
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Copyright 2001 - 2008
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The information provided by "Orange County DUI" is to offer assistance to those charged with driving under the influence. The resources are also provided to oppose the viewpoints of those striving for impractical DUI laws, the return of prohibition, and the reduction of our constitutional rights. The National Motorists Association joins the struggle against these viewpoints by stating their views on other DUI topics, such as unconstitutional checkpoints, license revocations, inappropriate penalties, and inaccurate field sobriety tests.
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