Are Women at a Greater Disadvantage When Charged with DUI?

 Posted on February 21, 2025 in DUI

Most statistics show that about 80 percent of all DUI arrests are men and that men are involved in 79.5 percent of drunk driving fatalities. A few decades ago, the number of women arrested for DUI was even lower, having risen over the past 10-15 years. Unfortunately, virtually every aspect of a DUI, including field sobriety tests and breathalyzer tests, is geared toward males, meaning that a woman charged with DUI may be at an immediate disadvantage.

Breathalyzers treat each subject the same regardless of the known differences in how women metabolize alcohol as compared to men. There are other issues that place women at a disadvantage during a DUI stop as well. If you are a female facing DUI charges, it is important to speak to an experienced Aurora, IL criminal defense attorney as quickly as possible to ensure you receive the best defense available.  

What Are Some of the DUI Issues Women Face?

There is a wide array of issues that can result in a woman being charged with DUI when she is not actually impaired. These issues begin at the time of the traffic stop and continue throughout the entire process and include:

The Initial Traffic Stop

A large number of arresting officers are male, and the vast majority of DUI stops happen late at night, often in an isolated area. A woman may understandably be nervous in such a situation, and that nervousness may come across to a male officer as guilt. Women are also more likely to cry out of nervousness and fear than men, which can also be misinterpreted as guilt.  

The Field Sobriety Tests

When a male officer asks a female to get out of her car to participate in a series of field sobriety tests, the disadvantages continue. The fact that she is being asked to get out of her car on an isolated road by a man with a gun can be frightening. Women react differently to fear and stress than men do, which can cause them to do poorly on field sobriety tests.

From a practical standpoint, most field sobriety tests are performed on the side of the road, which is rocky and uneven. Many women wear heels. An officer might tell a woman she can remove her heels, but she could be equally reluctant to walk over a rocky surface barefoot.  

The Breathalyzer Test

Breathalyzer machines often give falsely high readings for women because they are calibrated for men. These machines also give incorrect readings for those who are breathing shallowly – as a woman who is anxious and nervous would be.  Women also process alcohol differently than men because they have less of the enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase than men, which breaks down alcohol in the stomach.

As a result, a man and woman who weigh the same can test at the same BAC – even when the woman has had half as much alcohol as the man. Women who take birth control pills also process alcohol more slowly because the hormones in the pill and the alcohol depend on the liver for processing – resulting in a higher BAC for fewer drinks.

Finally, because women typically have more body fat than men, breathalyzer results are likely to be 20-25 percent higher for a woman than for a man of equal size when both drank the same amount of alcohol. What this means is that when the experts say to calculate a 0.02 blood alcohol for every beer, glass of wine, or mixed drink, this is not correct for women, who should calculate 0.035 for each drink.

Contact a DuPage County, IL DUI Lawyer

If you are a woman charged with DUI, you need a highly skilled Naperville, IL DUI attorney from Law Office of Patricia Magaña, LLC who can comprehensively build a solid defense on your behalf. The long-term consequences of a DUI conviction can cause many problems, so you need an attorney who will aggressively advocate on your behalf. Call 630-448-2001 to schedule your free consultation. Attorney Magana speaks Spanish.