PBT – Preliminary Breath Test
If you are in an accident or stopped for a traffic violation and suspected of driving under the influence (DUI), an officer will likely ask you to submit to a number of Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs), including the PBT, a Preliminary Breath Test. The PBT is one of the three (3) Field Sobriety Tests approved in the State of Georgia (which also include the HGN – Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus – and the One-Legged Stand).
Like all Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs), this test is voluntary, and you do not have to submit to it. Additionally, even if you do and the results indicate a presence of alcohol on your breath, there are many alternative explanations for these results that can create a reasonable doubt that the driver was actually under the influence of alcohol.
Many people think that the PBT is same as the “Breathalyzer,” and while it is similar in idea and form, it is much different. While the Breathalyzer may be administered roadside, it is most often administered after arrest at the police station. The PBT, however, is administered roadside, and is used to determine whether or not there is a presence of alcohol in a driver’s breath.
The PBT is often called an alco-sensor, and is used to determine probable cause for arrest for DUI. The Breathalyzer, however, is used to determine one’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Though the PBT indicates an estimated BAC, this value is not admissible in court. The PBT is only admissible to show the presence, or non-presence, of alcohol in one’s breath.
REMEMBER: The PBT is notoriously unreliable, as many factors can cause it to incorrectly indicate positively for alcohol — including acid reflux, and certain tobacco, mouthwash, or mints. Mere indication of the presence of alcohol on one’s breath, without more, is insufficient to establish that one was driving under the influence (DUI) beyond a reasonable doubt.
Read MoreGeorgia DUI – Commercial Driver
If you possess a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and drive a commercial vehicle in the State of Georgia, and are convicted of driving Under the Influence (DUI), you are subject to disqualification under the Uniform Commercial Driver’s License Act.
To be convicted of Driving Under the Influence while driving a commercial vehicle, the State must prove that you were driving or in actual physical control of a moving commercial motor vehicle, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04% or more.
If you submit to blood, breath, or urine testing and your BAC is found to be 0.04% or more, in addition to the criminal penalties you face if convicted, you are also subject to an administrative suspension of your driver’s privileges (which usually occurs before your criminal case is concluded). You have 10 business days to file a response to any petition filed against you requesting that your license be administratively suspended, and Horlick Law Firm will gladly do this for you.
If you do not request a hearing on this matter within 10 days, your license will be automatically suspended, even if you ultimately take your case to trial and win.
If you refuse to take any tests to indicate your BAC, and do not request an administrative hearing within 10 days, or lose your administrative hearing, your license will be suspended for one (1) year, and you will not be eligible for any temporary or hardship driving permits.
For this reason and many more, it is imperative that you have a lawyer throughout this process.
Contact Horlick Law Firm immediately to help navigate this stressful and tricky process. We are here to fight for you and help you save your job, your license, and your livelihood.
Read MoreWalk and Turn Test
The Walk and Turn Test is one of the three FSTs approved in the State of Georgia (which also include the HGN – Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus – test and the One Legged Stand). If you are in an accident or stopped by the police, suspected of Driving Under the Influence (DUI), and asked to submit to this Field Sobriety Test, you DO NOT have to participate.
If you do, however, keep in mind that the results are subjective.
You may think that if you “pass” the test, you will not be arrested, but that is rarely the case. For one, because the results of the test are not so easily defined as “pass/fail,” and for two, this is just one of the tests that any officer will ask you to submit to. He or she may not tell you how well you did on the test; he will just make his notations and ask you to submit to more.
The officer is looking for a combination of clues (probable cause) that you are Driving Under the Influence (DUI), and will administer as many tests as you agree to take to stack up this supposed evidence before making his or her determination.
The Walk and Turn test is an evaluation not only of your physical dexterity in performing the test, but also in your ability to pay attention to and follow the officer’s directions.
Procedure:
First, the officer will explain the directions and offer a short example of the procedure. You will be asked to take nine heel-to-toe steps forward, pivot in a very particular manner, and take nine heel-to-toe steps backwards to the starting position. The officer will ask you to count each step out loud. He or she is looking for indications that you can follow directions, and that you may be physically impaired (for instance, not counting your steps out loud, taking more or less than nine steps in each direction, using your arms to balance, swaying, not pivoting correctly…).
Missing just two of these criteria can result in arrest in Georgia. However, that doesn’t mean that you are guilty of DUI.
You may just be nervous. You may have a medical condition that makes it impossible to perform this test to the officer’s satisfaction. The belief that you are under the influence is merely one inference that the officer may draw. The results are subjective, and the officer is just looking to stack up probable cause for arrest.
Even ballerinas can fail this test.
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