DUI Laws Discriminate Against Women?

LOS ANGELES DUI ATTORNEY CITES STUDIES SHOWING UNFAIRNESS

LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles DUI lawyer Lawrence
Taylor claims that the current DUI laws discriminate against women.

Taylor, nationally-known author of the book Drunk Driving Defense, cites
researchers at the University School of Medicine in Trieste, Italy, who found
that women have less alcohol dehydrogenase than men. With less of the enzyme
that breaks down alcohol in the stomach, women reach the same blood alcohol
concentration as men after drinking only half as much.

The scientists found that women reached blood alcohol levels illegal in a DUI
case after drinking 20 to 30 percent less alcohol than men of equal weight.

The scientists' conclusion was reported in 322(2) New England Journal of
Medicine 95: legislatures need to consider sex differences in drafting DUI
laws.

Taylor, who heads a law firm of Los Angeles DUI lawyers and Orange County DUI
lawyers, cites another study reporting lower partition ratios in women - the
ratio of alcohol in the breath (measured by breathalyzers in DUI cases) to
alcohol actually in the blood. The breathalyzer assumes a ratio of 2100:1,
but that is only an average and varies from person to person.

According to a study in the scientific journal Analytical Toxicology, women
have significantly lower partition ratios than men. And the lower the ratio,
the higher the reading -- even though the true blood alcohol level does not
vary. The Los Angeles DUI lawyer says this means that a woman with a true
level of .06% and a ratio of 1500:1 will produce a reading on the machine of
.09% -- above the legal limit.

Put another way, Taylor says, the breathalyzer will show an average man
accused of drunk driving to be innocent -- but a woman with the same blood
alcohol level to be guilty.

And then, Taylor says, there's the problem of birth control...

Scientists in Canada have found that women taking oral contraceptives appeared
to reach peak blood alcohol levels faster than women not taking them (Canadian
Society of Forensic Science Journal 17 (1982)). Making the problem worse,
other studies report higher levels of acetaldehyde on their breath, due to the
decreased ability to metabolize the enzyme as the level of sex steroids
increases (8(4) Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 352).

The Los Angeles DUI attorney explains that most breath machines are unable to
tell acetaldehyde from alcohol. Result: a false reading...and a possible DUI
conviction.

For more Information, visit the firm's main website at
http://www.losangelesduilaw.com. Inquiries may be directed to the firm's main
Los Angeles office: 562.989.4774.

About THE LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE TAYLOR
The Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor has specialized in DUI defense exclusively
for 29 years, and is unique in having a staff of former California DUI law
enforcement experts. The firm's DUI defense attorneys serve clients statewide
from its offices in Long Beach, Pasadena, Woodland Hills, Irvine, Riverside,
San Diego and San Francisco.

SOURCE The Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor

The Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor, +1-562-989-4774, feedback@duicentral.com