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Alcohol Detection Methods

It can be difficult to tell when someone has been drinking, but you may be in a position where you have to know. Perhaps you're an employer concerned about an out-of-control employee, a police officer on a traffic stop, or the worried parent of an adolescent. Several methods, some observational and some chemical, can help determine sobriety.

  1. Observing Behaviors and Environment

    • Sometimes you can tell someone has been drinking by what you see, hear, and smell. You may detect the odor of alcohol or see an open container of alcohol sitting nearby. The person may exhibit slurred speech, staggering gait, or clumsiness if he tries to find papers such as drivers license and car registration. The person may also show very changeable moods, from giggling to sobbing openly in a matter of moments.

    Field Sobriety Tests

    • Police officers are trained to put people who are suspected of drinking and driving through a number of field sobriety tests. These tests include asking the suspect to walk in a straight line, to stand on one foot, and to touch her nose with the index finger. These tests do a good job of identifying people who are impaired, but they also produce "false positives." Someone with a neurological disease, for instance, might not be able to pass a field sobriety test even if he is sober.

    Breathalyzer Test

    • In the breathalyzer test, the suspect is asked to blow into a tube connected to a machine, which then estimates the person's blood alcohol content (BAC) based on the amount of alcohol on the person's breath. A BAC of .08 or over means that the person is legally intoxicated for the purposes of driving. According to Alcohol Test Info, breathalyzers have the reputation of being somewhat unreliable; furthermore, their results can be skewed by the suspect hyperventilating out of nervousness or holding his or her breath.

    Blood Test

    • A blood test is typically performed at a hospital or doctor's office. According to Alcohol Test Info, the results are highly reliable. According to the Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs and Transportation in the Transportation Research E-Circular, some defense attorneys advise clients who have been stopped under the suspicion of driving while intoxicated to request a blood test, both for accuracy and because, in the time it takes to get the suspect to a hospital and get her blood drawn, her BAC may have dropped to within legal limits.

    Additional Measures

    • People who are under house arrest are often required to wear a transdermal alcohol monitoring device around their ankle. This device measures alcohol in perspiration. Some courts order people with alcohol problems to get an ignition systems lock on their car. The car will not start if the BAC as measured by a breathalyzer is .08 or above. Finally, urine and hair tests may be used to determine whether alcohol use has occurred within the past week (urine) or the past several months (hair). Hair tests can also determine how much alcohol has been used.

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