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Was Your Breathalyzer Test Properly Administered?

Eleven Ohio policemen were fired for lying, and as a result of their actions, authorities expect to have to reverse convictions obtained in many of the cases the officers handled. An internal investigation by an Ohio city's police department disclosed that the policemen had not met the qualifications to administer breathalyzer tests in DUI/DWI cases because they had cheated on the examinations. The lack of proper certification taints the test results as reliable evidence. Although all the DUI cases they handled will have to be reviewed (and likely, dismissed), no exact number of affected cases was available.

Virginia's "Implied Consent" Law Can Be Challenged

Tougher driving comes with DUI conviction

Chicago Tribune
By Monique Garcia | Tribune reporter

Motorists busted for drunken driving in Illinois after Wednesday will have to blow into a device to prove their sobriety every time they get behind the wheel—or their vehicle won't start.

December 29, 2008

The restriction is part of a new law that appears to be the state's biggest crackdown since 0.08 became the blood-alcohol standard in summer 1997.

The measure, one of the strictest in the nation, is aimed at first-time offenders convicted of driving under the influence. Those convicted will have 14 days to get a breath-alcohol ignition-interlock device installed in their vehicle's dash. With the device, if a driver has a blood-alcohol content above 0.024, the engine won't start.

Those with multiple DUI convictions previously could have been ordered to install the device.

As many as 40,000 offenders a year could be affected by the new law, which the General Assembly unanimously passed in 2007. The take-effect date was delayed so Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White could get ready to enforce it.

Sponsors responded to a concern from Mothers Against Drunk Driving that alcohol-related crashes and arrests had stopped declining in recent years. The group argued that technology could be used to get more drunken drivers off the roads.

"We were really trying to figure out what was the best way to move the ball forward a little bit," said state Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who sponsored the measure. "They suggested we try this technology, which has been proven."

Illinois is at least the fourth state to require the devices for first-time offenders, following New Mexico, Arizona and Louisiana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The bill's backers cited a 12 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic fatalities in New Mexico after that state implemented a similar law in 2005. Last year in Illinois, there were 508 deaths from crashes involving alcohol, according to state transportation officials.

"So often what we talk about when trying to prevent drunk driving is how to change human behavior, but these devices really allowed for an 'a-ha moment,' " said David Malham, a victim advocate with MADD-Illinois. "With this, it's not about changing human nature, it's about science interfering and preventing reckless behavior."

The Illinois Department of Transportation already is airing public service ads branding DUI offenders as "losers" and offering a re-enactment of an offender breathing into the ignition-lock device.

The devices will replace judicial driving permits, which judges issued to those convicted of drunken driving who needed to use a car to get to work or school. Now first-time offenders still will lose their license for 30 days, but will be allowed back on the road if they agree to have the devices installed in their vehicles.

Drivers who register a 0.08 or higher blood-alcohol level at the time of their arrest will be required to drive with the monitoring devices for five months. Drivers who refuse alcohol testing but are convicted must use the devices for 11 months.

The gadgets also will require drivers be tested periodically while the car is running. Drivers will have to blow into the device again within the first 5 to 15 minutes of a trip, then at least twice every hour.

If alcohol is then detected, the device instructs the driver to pull over to side of road and the engine is stopped. A report goes to the secretary of state's office for review and additional punishment is meted out.

The law isn't foolproof. There's nothing to prevent someone convicted of DUI from driving a car without the ignition-lock device. But the penalties for skirting the law are severe: if caught and convicted, a driver faces up to 3 years in jail.

"That's serious business," said Susan McKinney, who oversees the monitoring device program for the secretary of state. "There's no way we can ensure people won't find ways around it, but they'll pay heavily if they are caught."

The devices cost the driver $80 for installation and about $80 a month to rent. The secretary of state will charge another $30 a month to monitor drivers and administer the program.

"I've had people say, 'Wow, this sounds really inconvenient,' " Malham, of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said. "And I say, well, 'Yeah, but driving drunk is not only inconvenient, it's dangerous and often deadly.'"