How much you had to drink and what you drank is a critical question in any DUI case. From the outset, it is important to determine whether the amount of alcohol you had to drink was sufficient to get a reading above the legal limit or to affect your ability to drive. For example, a single drink is usually not enough to get your alcohol concentration above the legal limit, but it might be sufficient to get you arrested for DUI if a police officer thinks it affects your ability to drive to any appreciable degree. In our years of defending DUI cases, the attorneys at FBD have seen DUI charges filed with BAC results as low as .02%. At the same time, depending on your weight and size, two to three drinks may be enough to get your alcohol concentration at or above the legal limit. Generally speaking, a thin lightweight individual takes fewer drinks to exceed the legal limit than does a heavy person.
Your alcohol concentration is generally determined by the amount of alcohol consumed, your body size, gender, and time. At FBD we use a reliable scientific method called "Widmark's Formula" to determine whether the amount you had to drink was in fact enough to produce a reading over the "legal limit." To be reasonably accurate, the period of consumption, rate of consumption, and type of liquor consumed must be known along with other critical facts such as body weight. This evidence is scientific and is admissible in court to cast doubt upon the results of the breath test machine.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board has published blood alcohol concentration (BAC) charts for men and women that is the Liquor Board's best estimate as to what the alcohol level would be for a given amount of drinking. The chart should be used only as a guide because there are too many variables bearing on an individual's true breath alcohol concentration.
Below is a chart of the signs of alcohol consumption and the degree of intoxication based on blood alcohol concentrations. This chart reflects the testimony of experts used by prosecutors and shows that determining where "legal intoxication" begins is an inexact science, at best.
| Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC level) | Stage of Alcoholic Influence | Signs or Symptoms of Intoxication |
| 0.01 - 0.05 | Sobriety | No apparent influence Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation Slight changes detectable by special tests |
| 0.03 - 0.12 | Euphoria | Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness Increased self-confidence, decreased inhibitions Diminution of attention, judgment, and control Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests |
| 0.09 - 0.25 | Excitement | Emotionalinstability, decreased inhibitions Loss of critical judgment Impairment of memory and comprehension Decreased sensatory response, increased reaction time Some muscular incoordination |
| 0.18 - 0.30 | Confusion | Disorientation, mental confusion, dizziness Exaggerated emotional state, such as fear and anger Disturbance of sensation (diplopia, etc.) and of perception of color, form, motion dimensions Decreased pain sense Impaired balance, muscular incoordination, stagerring gait, slurred speech |
| 0.27 - 0.40 | Stupor | Apathy, general inertia, approaching paralysis Markedly decreased response to stimuli Marked muscular incoordination, inability to stand or walk Vomiting, incontinence of urine and feces Impaired consciousness, sleep or stupor |
| 0.35 - 0.50 | Coma | Complete unconsciousness, coma, anesthesia Depressed or abolished reflexes Subnormal temperature Incontinence of urine and feces Embarrassment of circulation and respiration Possible death |
| 0.45 + | Death | Death from respiratory paralysis |
