TexasCHLforum.com

Will938 wrote:So let me get this straight then, you can have some amount of alcohol in your system and be carrying? The way it was explained to me you can't have "any detectable amount" of alcohol in your system.

That's exactly why this thread is called "Instructor Misinformation".

You were told wrongly. Roger Howard's reply explains the law, but let me add this: a standard of "any detectable amount" is just plain silly. Just rinsed your mouth out with mouthwash? You now have a "detectable amount" of alcohol on your breath. Enjoyed some cordial candies? You have "detectable" alcohol in your system. Suffer one of several chronic disorders? Congratulations, you will always have "detectable" amounts of alcohol in your bloodstream.

Alcohol is a natural substance, and many people have a metabolism that results in some alcohol in their system at all times. It's detectable, albeit at levels far below intoxication.

A grain of sand of sand is detectable, but that doesn't make it a beach.

It's all about the volume and cutoff point, not the "detection".

Kevin

seamusTX wrote:It would cost around 100 grand, which isn't in their budget.

I doubt it would cost one tenth that, unless they used professional actors. We're not talking about an involved production.

Kevin

txinvestigator wrote:Interesting. If your assertion that it is solely the student's responsibility then why certify instructors and make students take a class?

Given some of mis/disinformation CHLs have reported hearing from their instructors, I'm starting to wonder why DPS doesn't produce a standardized video for the class. We've even heard from instructors who were taught wrongly in CHLI courses.

I agree it's every student's responsibility to know and understand the law. I also agree that incompetent instructors should be booted, and the current system leaves way too much latitude for wrong information to creep into the process.

I think the class could be done nicely if the instructor's role was to start the DVD, administer the test, and conduct the proficiency test. It would certainly be more standardized.

Kevin