Most drivers understand that impaired driving is illegal. There are some who will do it intentionally, perhaps for the thrill. There are also those who will risk it, knowing they are impaired but deciding to drive anyway. Maybe they do not have far to go before they get home, so they think the odds of getting caught are small.
But there’s another category for drunk drivers: People who thought they were sober enough to drive, even though they were impaired. They did not believe they were breaking the law. If these drivers take a breath test that is over 0.08%, they may be surprised and confused.
How could this happen?
Studies have asked impaired people to judge their own intoxication levels. It’s often as simple as asking them how drunk they are on a scale of one to 10. The results can then be checked with a breath test.
What often happens is that the people with a higher BAC are less accurate at judging their own impairment. They’re more likely to get it wrong and assume they’re sober – when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Part of the issue here is that people tend to look to others when deciding how drunk they feel. If the people around them are very intoxicated, they may feel relatively sober, even with a BAC that is too high to drive. If the people around them are stone sober, though, the person with the high BAC would likely feel far more intoxicated.
Mistakes in judgment sometimes do lead to DUI arrests. If you find yourself in this position, it is important to look into your legal defense options.