Breath test machine

A very eloquent article about why Texas' breath test machine is flawed can be found here. Florida uses the same model "Intoxiliar" that we use here in Texas. The difference is that our statutes have been written so that a similar type of challenge to the source code cannot be made. In effect, the Texas legislature says that we're going to make this machine scientifically valid by law, without regard to whether it actually works or not.

Courts across Texas use the machine and the results are admitted without any foundation as to the reliability or accuracy of the results. The machine has never been allowed to be tested as it is used in Texas, by outside experts or third parties. We are just supposed to accept its results without question.

The problem is that it's results have been proven to be false when tested by an expert not hired or paid by the State.

So how do you know you can trust the results of a Texas breath test?

Because the government said so!

As one expert put it, "If the State passes a statute that states the world is flat . . .does that make it true and scientifically reliable?"