Absolutely agreed.haltz wrote:It totally depends on when he had his last drink. If his third and fourth beers were drank just before he got in the car, then it is very likely that his peak BAC was in the station.skmsw wrote:2) Actually, most of my assumptions regarding what we've seen in the reports are sound. If you'd rather read wikipedia and assume that a quoted range of 15 minutes to two hours means that we can safely assume that it was two hours in TLR's case, that's fine. While you are 100% right that I am making some assumptions, and that I have absolutely no proof, in my day job I actually happen to have some professional expertise in this area.
That's obviously where assumptions come in. And they are merely that -- assumptions.We just don't know enough to speculate that it was ever .125.
For purposes of this thread, I've chosen to make the assumptions that --
1) Since TLR had apparently driven at least 15 miles (at least some of which were non-highway and had traffic lights), had stopped and passed out at least once, was questioned at the scene by police, received a field sobriety test, and was transported to the station ALL BEFORE he received the breathalyzer -- it had been AT LEAST an hour and a half since his last drink, even if he DID get in the car right after his last drink -- but --
2) That TLR is more likely to have been drinking more heavily early in the evening, than that he was still drinking right before getting in the car some time in the range of 11 PM
Based on those assumptions, which are unknowable but in my opinion are pretty reasonable, unless TLR is the outlier who metabolizes alcohol exceptionally slowly (which would be much more of an assumption than that he is relatively normal), his levels were very, very likely to have dropped by the time he was tested; perhaps dropped considerably. He was likely to be lower in the station than when he got behind the wheel, and was likely to be lower at the station than when found passed out.
Can I say these things with any certainty? Of course not. They admittedly are assumptions and opinion. But frankly I think they are far more likely than the alternatives.
