Can my BAC keep rising after I stopped driving?

Alcohol doesn't reach the bloodstream instantly. It absorbs over a period that varies with what was consumed, how quickly, and whether there was food. Someone who drinks shortly before driving may be on the rising side of that curve when stopped, and still rising when tested.

The gap matters because breath tests typically happen well after the stop — after the roadside exercises, the arrest, the transport, and the twenty-minute observation period. An hour or more between driving and testing is ordinary.

What the State must prove is the level at the time of driving, not at the time of the test. Where the reading is close to the threshold and the delay was substantial, that distinction can be the case.

Developing it usually requires the timeline — when the last drink was, when the driving occurred, when each sample was taken — and often expert testimony.