Detection and General Deterrence DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing What does it mean? • BAC is the number of grams of alcohol found in 100 milliliters of the person’s blood

Session 2 – Detection and General Deterrence

DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing

What does it mean?

• BAC is the number of grams of alcohol

found in 100 milliliters of the person’s

blood

• Example – If a person has a BAC of .08,

then there is eight one-hundredths of a

gram of alcohol in every 100 milliliters of

the person’s blood

Blood Alcohol Concentration

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But in another respect, when we contrast alcohol with virtually any other drug, we find

that impairment by alcohol requires a vastly larger dose than does impairment by the

others. Consider exactly what a BAC of 0.08 means. Blood alcohol concentration is

expressed in terms of the "number of grams of ethanol in every 100 milliliters of blood."

Therefore, 0.08 means that there is 0.08 grams (g) of ethanol in every 100 milliliters

(mL) of blood. You will find that BAC results are reported in a variety of units. Two

common variations are milligrams/milliliters and percent. There are 1,000 milligrams

(mg) in one gram; therefore, 0.08 grams equals 80 milligrams (mg) and a BAC of 0.08

would be reported as 80 mg of ethanol/100 mL of blood. Percent means parts per one

hundred. In this example 0.08 grams/100 milliliters of blood is equivalent to 0.08

percent BAC.

Note: The term BAC is used in the manual. However, it should be understood to refer to

either Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) or Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC)

depending on the legal requirements of the jurisdiction.

Session 2 – Detection and General Deterrence

DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing

What does it mean?

• BAC is the number of grams of alcohol

found in 100 milliliters of the person’s

blood

• Example – If a person has a BAC of .08,

then there is eight one-hundredths of a

gram of alcohol in every 100 milliliters of

the person’s blood

Blood Alcohol Concentration

(Cont.)

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Session 2 – Detection and General Deterrence

Standardized Field Sobriety Test Course

QUESTIONS?

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Test Your Knowledge

1. The average DWI violator commits that violation ____ times a year.

2. In typical enforcement jurisdictions one DWI violation in ____ results in arrest.

3. In the Fort Lauderdale study, police officers arrested ____ % of the drivers

they contacted whose BACs were .10 to .20.

4. Name three different chemicals that are alcohols.

5. Which of these is beverage alcohol, intended for human consumption?

6. What is the chemical symbol for beverage alcohol?

7. What is the name of the chemical process by which beverage alcohol is

produced naturally?

8. What is the name of the process used to produce high concentration

beverage alcohol?

9. Multiple choice: Blood alcohol concentration is the number of of alcohol

in every 100 milliliters of blood.

a. Grams

b. Milligrams

c. Nanograms

10. True or false: Pound for pound, the average woman contains more water

than does the average man.

11. What do we mean by the "proof" of an alcoholic beverage?

12. Every chemical that is an "alcohol" contains what three elements?

13. True or false: Alcohol can pass directly through the stomach walls and enter

the bloodstream.

14. What is the name of the muscle that controls the passage from the stomach

to the lower gastrointestinal tract?

15. True or false: Most of the alcohol that a person drinks is absorbed into the

blood via the small intestine.

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Test Your Knowledge (Cont’d)

16. Multiple choice: Suppose a man and a woman who both weigh 160 pounds

arrived at a party and started to drink at the same time. And suppose that,

two hours later, they both have a BAC of 0.10. Chances are ....

a. He had more to drink than she did.

b. They drank just about the same amount of alcohol.

c. He had less to drink than she did.

17. In which organ of the body does most of the metabolism of the alcohol take

place?

18. What is the name of the enzyme that aids the metabolism of alcohol?

19. Multiple choice: Once a person reaches their peak BAC, it will drop at a rate

of about per hour.

a. 0.025

b. 0015

c. 0.010

20. True or False: It takes about thirty minutes for the average 175 pound man to

"burn off" the alcohol in one 12 ounce can of beer.

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Participant Manual SFST – Session 3 – The Legal Environment

Session 3 – The Legal Environment

DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing

Session 3

The Legal Environment

3-1

1 Hour 10 Minutes

An understanding of impaired driving laws that apply in your jurisdiction is critical to

successful DWI enforcement.

All states (and many local jurisdictions) have their own impaired driving laws. While the

specific language of these laws may vary significantly, most include the following

provisions:

• Basic DWI Law

• Implied Consent Law

• Illegal Per Se Law

• Preliminary Breath Testing Law

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