A recent article out of South Carolina raised an interesting question about whether something as strange as sucking on a penny can help drivers avoid a drunk driving bust. The case comes out of Eutawville, SC where a 30-year-old man was pulled over for speeding a little after 2 in the morning. The arresting officer said he smelled alcohol and noticed that the driver was slurring his words. As a result, the man performed and failed a series of field sobriety tests.
The officer, believing he had sufficient evidence of a DWI offense, placed the man under arrest and drove him to the local police station. On the way the officer ended up colliding with a deer, damaging the vehicle and requiring a second transport to finally get the suspected drunk driver to the precinct.
After arriving at the station, the officer offered the suspected drunk driver a chance to take a bathroom break given how long the deer encounter had delayed the arrest. The officer says that when the suspect emerged from the bathroom he had two pennies in his mouth. The suspect quickly spit the pennies out and denied that they had ever been there. Despite the long delays and the presence of the mysterious pennies, the man was found to have a BAC of 0.08, enough to justify a DUI charge.
Despite the odd revelation about the pennies, nowhere in the article is the matter addressed, an omission that is worthy of some digging around to find out why the man would have pennies in his mouth in the first place. A quick Google search turns up a series of articles claiming/refuting the claim that sucking on pennies prior to undergoing a Breathalyzer can help defeat the test.
The fact is, submitting to a Breathalyzer test can be a nerve-wracking experience. As a result, rumors about a series of supposedly surefire tricks have spread about ways drivers can improve their odds of passing the test. One of the most common, and most resilient, is that sucking on a copper penny can cause a chemical reaction that fools the Breathalyzer machine. Similar tales involving garlic, Vitamin C, mints and nickels have all floated around from time to time. Advocates of the idea claim that the copper in the penny mixes with the alcohol to confuse the reading, allowing drunk drivers to slip by undetected.
The first problem with this plan is that the United States Mint has not used copper in pennies for more than three decades now. Pennies are instead made almost entirely of zinc. A recent episode of the popular Discovery Channel series “MythBusters” set out to test the trick. The tests showed that there was absolutely no benefit to sucking on a penny before submitting to a Breathalyzer test. The fact is the air tested by a Breathalyzer comes from deep inside a person’s lungs and no amount of copper would be able to affect the alcohol content of the air down there.
Why Hiring a Minneapolis DWI Attorney is important
Although the story above highlights some pretty wild ideas some people may have in defense of their DWI cases, there are legitimate defenses to a drunk driving cases that may exist in a particular situation. Therefore, if you or someone you love has been arrested for an alcohol related driving offense, it is important to contact a DUI attorney to review your options and possible defenses. The lawyers at Kans Law Firm, LLC have been litigating driving under the influence cases in Minnesota for over 19 years and will provide a knowledgeable and aggressive defense to your case.
Source: “Complicated traffic case results in man being charged with DUI,” published at TheTandD.com.