What BAC Stands For and Other Drunk Driving Acronyms in Florida

If you are arrested for DUI, you will hear many different acronyms used in your case. But there are two which are vitally important to you. The first is BAC. BAC is an extremely important term and could mean the difference between a conviction and an acquittal.  BAC stands for Blood Alcohol Concentration. Although still used as the standard acronym today, even in Florida, BAC is a bit outdated. In almost all DUI prosecutions, BAC is no longer used.

Florida only allows blood tests in very limited circumstances.  In fact, more than 98% of the DUIs in Florida do not have a BAC score at all.  Instead, most DUI cases in Florida have a BrAC score.

 What is BrAC?

BrAC is very similar to BAC, but instead of Blood Alcohol Concentration, BrAC stands for Breath Alcohol Concentration.  In Florida in the past, a prosecutor who received a breath alcohol level would have to show a jury that the Breath Alcohol Concentration could be converted to a Blood Alcohol Concentration using a formula to get a conviction because it was illegal to drive with a Blood Alcohol Concentration greater than .08.  However, Florida law, and the law in most states was changed when breath testing became widely used.

Today in Florida, it is illegal to drive with a Breath Alcohol Concentration of .08 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath or .08 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

Of course, there are other acronyms that you will hear in a courtroom when charged with driving under the influence, the first of which is DUI.  DUI is the common name for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Florida.  Other acronyms include:

DWLS (pronounced Dwillis) which stands for Driving While License Suspended

DUBAL – Driving with an Unlawful Balance

NHTSA- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

FSEs – Field Sobriety Exercises

FSTs – the same thing as FSEs but Field Sobriety Tests (cannot be called tests in court in Florida)

SFSTs- Same as above, but Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (cannot be called tests or standardized in court in Florida)

HGN – Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (a field sobriety exercise)

OLS – One leg stand (a field sobriety exercise)

W&T – Walk and Turn (a field sobriety exercise)

FLHSMV or DHSMV or DMV – Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department

BAR – Bureau of Administrative Reviews

FHP – Florida Highway Patrol

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