When a person is arrested for Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVWI) in the State of Wisconsin, they are given the opportunity to provide a breath, blood or urine sample to the officer. The primary test that the officer will give, is the taking of a breath sample.

Officers have to rely on several factors before deciding whether or not to arrest someone for OVWI. Factors may include: speech, balance or odor of intoxicant on breath or person. The officer gives the driver several "motor skill" tests to perform, to determine if there is probable cause to arrest. If the driver fails these tests, the officer places the driver under arrest for OVWI, and is then taken back to the police department where the Intoxilyzer is administered. Only officers that have been trained on the use of the Intoxilyzer and have become certified through the state, can administer and operate the Intoxilyzer machine. 

The Intoxilyzer is a machine that measures the amount of alcohol in the person's breath based on certain formulas, factors and chemical solutions. I am not at liberty to discuss the operation or workings of the Intoxilyzer, as that is privileged information and can not be disclosed. The State of Wisconsin has determined that a person is legally intoxicated when they have registered .10 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. Other states such as Illinois have adopted a legal intoxication limit of .08. 

In my 16 years in law enforcement, out of the hundreds of Intoxilyzer tests that I have administered, only 2 persons registered under the legal limit of .10. The lowest reading that I took was a .05 (person was still arrested and convicted for OVWI) and the highest reading was a .41. Technically a person that shows a .40 (4 TIMES OVER THE LEGAL LIMIT OF .10) should be legally dead. I was amazed that this person was still standing and able to answer my questions. It turned out that the person was a serious alcoholic and this was their 4th offense for OVWI.

If a person is arrested for OVWI in the State of Wisconsin, there is a law which is called Implied Consent. This law simply states that if you possess a Wisconsin drivers license and are arrested for OVWI, you imply consent to have a test taken of your breath or blood for the purposes of determining the presence or quantity of alcohol in your blood or breath. If you refuse to give this sample, your drivers license WILL be revoked (taken away) for simply not taking the test. The State of Wisconsin also says that if your level is at .10 or above, your drivers license can be immediately suspended for 6 months. 

Once the person provides a breath sample they can also request a blood sample be taken, but it is at their expense. Only if the person can not provide a breath sample due to medical reasons, will a blood sample be the primary test. Blood samples are always mandatory in cases of very serious or fatal motor vehicle accidents. A blood sample will always provide a more factual level of the alcohol concentration in the persons blood, and therefore be a better indicator of the true level of intoxication.

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