In excess of .08 grams per 210 liters of breath . . .

These days people talk about someone being "above an 08" they generally have no idea what that means.

Hearken back to the days we were all in elementary school. When we all learned about decimals in mathematics we were told that the number immediately to the right of the decimal point was the value "tenths." The number immediately to the right of tenths was "hundredths." The number immediately to the right of hundredths was "thousandths." For example, .203 would be read "two hundred three thousandths."

Another way to describe that value would be in the form of a fraction. The value can be represented thusly 203/1000.

So the value .08 that so many people commonly call an 'oh-eight" is eight hundredths of a gram. Does that really help anyone understand what being above an oh-eight means? Let's flesh it out some more.

A gram is a small unit of measurement. Just over twenty-eight grams equals one ounce. As a means of comparison a single serving packet of Nurtasweet weighs .458 ounces or just under 12 grams.

As for the other part of the measurement of .08 grams per 210 liters of breath what exactly does 210 liters look like? Consider that a bottle of Coca Cola is 2 liters. Fifty-five bottles of Coca Cola equals 210 liters. Also, 210 liters is the equivalent of 55.45 gallons. If you're familiar with a fifty five gallon drum than you have some idea of what he volume is.

Do we now know exactly what .08 grams per 210 liters of breath is?

Yes and no.

We know that it is a very, very small measurement. We know that the machine is looking for an amount that is 162 times smaller than the contents of a single serving packet of Nurtasweet while floating around in a 55 gallon drum of breath.

What we still don't know is exactly what that means.

How is that possible?

The new Intoxilyzer 8000 has done something that defies the laws of physics and all conceivable methods of deductive reasoning. It has gathered breath samples from people who were arrested for DUI--and as aside the law in Florida requires that someone first be under arrest before a police officer can even request that the person take the breath test--conducted an analysis of the person's breath and produce a breath test result.

Well, what's the big deal with that? Isn't that exactly what a breath test machine is supposed to do?

The problem is that quite a few of those breath tests based the conducted analysis and result whatever it may be upon a breath volume of 0.000 liters of breath.

That's right folks people are being prosecuted for the offense of DUI using evidence that cannot possibly be accurate and reliable.

For those interested in seeing this result for themselves I direct you to this website maintained by my colleague Robert Harrison of Sarasota, Florida.

This breath test includes a result in excess of .20 gram per 210 liters of breath.

Who in their right mind would willingly submit to a breath test when the machine can produce a result when absolutely no breath at all actually was introduced for analysis?

Oh and something we'll discuss next time is just what exactly does .08 grams per 210 liters of breath mean?