Since a DUI conviction can have strong negative impacts on your life, you may wonder if you can prevent yourself from driving while drunk. Checking your sobriety level might seem like a good way to find out if you are alert enough to get behind the wheel.
While wanting to test your ability to drive after having a few drinks is understandable, Healthline explains some reasons why determining your state of sobriety could be a challenge.
Consuming alcohol may distort your senses
Since people have differing levels of alcohol tolerance, you may or may not have a clear enough head to judge whether you can drive safely. Given that just one or two drinks can affect your judgment, you might incorrectly evaluate your driving ability.
Testing methods are not always reliable
Personal sobriety tests such as an app on your phone may not be accurate enough to assess your blood alcohol concentration level. Even if you give yourself a breath test, there are no guarantees. Some personal breath testing devices fail to accurately detect alcohol levels. Personal errors in operation can also skew the results.
Additionally, you may not be sober enough to drive even with a legal BAC limit. Many drivers still have problems operating a vehicle with even after one or two drinks. This could result in an accident and possibly an arrest for DUI if you show evidence of drunkenness following a collision.
Understand your legal options
In the event an officer arrests you on a DUI charge, remember that sobriety testing devices used by police can produce inaccurate results. Incorrectly calibrating a breath test device or errors in software operation sometimes occur.
Ultimately, if you doubt your driving abilities, abstaining from driving may spare you a date in court and resulting consequences.