Could Your Age Be an Adverse Factor in a DUI Arrest?

 Posted on April 25, 2025 in DUI

A DUI arrest – regardless of your age – can cause you significant problems for a very long time. While the immediate consequences, including the loss of your driver’s license, a public DUI trial, and the potential of a sentence of jail time, can derail your life, the collateral consequences can be equally damaging. You could face extremely high auto insurance rates for years, an inability to obtain employment, and damage to personal relationships.

While nobody is in favor of impaired drivers on the roadways, a significant number of DUI arrests are based on flawed information from field sobriety tests and breathalyzer tests. The variables associated with BAC levels can include age, weight, gender, diet, medications, illnesses, and even your job. (Those who regularly work with fumes from chemicals, paints, or adhesives can have falsely high BAC readings.)

If you happen to be over the age of 60, you could find yourself being charged with DUI when you are not actually impaired. It is important that you discuss this issue with your Silver Spring, MD DUI attorney to ensure these factors become a part of your defense. Both field sobriety tests and BAC tests can have false results for seniors, and these facts must come out at trial.

How Field Sobriety Tests Are Skewed in Favor of Younger People  

While field sobriety tests are administered to elderly drivers in the same way they are to younger drivers, the test results for seniors should not hold the same credibility in court. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), individuals over the age of 65 should not be subjected to field sobriety testing due to age-related physical limitations, such as joint and muscle stiffness, slower reflexes, and significant balance issues.

These issues can cause poor performance on a field sobriety test. Older drivers are more likely to be taking prescription medications and have medical issues that can negatively affect their balance and other responses that affect the results of the field sobriety tests. DUI attorneys must bring these issues out in court to show that the results of the field sobriety tests may not have been indicative of impairment.

Breathalyzer Tests Are Not Nearly as Accurate for Older Subjects

Generally speaking, the older a person is, the slower their body metabolizes alcohol. This means that when all other factors are taken into consideration, a person over the age of 60 could have a higher BAC level than a younger person when both drank the same amount of alcohol. As we age, our bodies retain less water than younger adults. Water in a person’s body cells dilutes alcohol, which lowers the overall concentration of alcohol.

An older person with less water in the cells will test higher in a breathalyzer test after drinking the same amount of alcohol as a younger person. Some elderly drivers may also have difficulty providing a sufficient sample of their breath during a breathalyzer test. A sample of 1.5 liters of breath for 4.5 seconds is the standard, which can be challenging for those with diminished lung capacity, a condition more common among seniors.

The inability to provide a sufficient breath sample for an accurate reading can result in a charge of refusal, even when the person did not refuse the breathalyzer test.  When you add in the fact that some prescription medications commonly taken by older people can compound the effects of alcohol, a falsely high BAC reading is fairly common among seniors.

Contact a Montgomery County, MD DUI Attorney

Having an experienced Silver Spring, MD DUI attorney from The Law Offices of Gerstenfield & Demirji, PC. can help ensure you receive a fair trial and that any extenuating circumstances that could affect a field sobriety test or breathalyzer test are brought to light. Our attorneys are compassionate and have excellent relationships with prosecutors. We are fluent in Arabic and Spanish. Call 301-589-9500 to schedule a free consultation.