Archive for the ‘DUI’ Category

As a follow up to the post about forced blood draws, check this out.

Here is what the personal injury attorneys have to look forward to.

The following news article was a story that I found on Yahoo.com on Sept. 13, 2009.  I predict that in the near future we will begin to see police officers trained to draw blood from DUI suspects that refuse to take chemical tests of their breath after being arrested for …

Police explore the idea of [...]

A report on DUI arrests was released on August 19th amid fanfare generated by NHTSA for their latest anti-DUI initiative. Speeches by Transportation Secretary LaHood and MADD President Laura Dean-Moody were along the lines you might expect, and there was a press release on the NHTSA website. The study is …

NHTSA Reports Increase in DUI [...]

     Although a number of PBT’s are approved for use in Georgia, the most common is the Alco-Sensor IV, which is manufactured by Intoximeter, Inc.  This preliminary breath testing device employs a fuel cell technology that is not specific for ethyl alcohol.  Nevertheless, it is used by police as a …

More on PBT’s (Preliminary Breath [...]

     Fewer Americans are driving drunk, but roughly one in six drivers on weekend nights is driving under the influence of drugs, according to a data released Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey.  In a survey conducted in 2007, 2.2 percent of drivers had a blood-alcohol content …

Government says Driving Under the [...]

     What used to be known as typing is now known as “texting” by the young and the technologically savvy not-so young, so long as it is done on an electronic apparatus that transmits the typed message to another electronic apparatus. Driving under the influence has become such a social …

Driving While Texting: You Gotta [...]

     As far back as the 1930’s it was recognized that re-eqilibration of the alcohol and breath occurs at the lower temperature (as opposed to core body temperature) of the upper respiratory tract during expiration in such a manner that temperature controls the alcohol content of the expired alveolar air.  …

More on Breath Temperature

     The problems with mouth alcohol in breath testing are well known.  The screening devices used at roadside by police officers in Georgia are incapable of detecting mouth alcohol since they are not even programmed with slope detection capabilities.  Supposedly, the Intoxilyzer 5000, which is used for evidential breath alcohol …

Effect of Dentures on Breath [...]

     Linearity is determined by testing known samples of various concentrations, which should ensure that the tests of other samples of unknown concentrations should yield accurate results.  Linearity enables an analyst to have confidence in the results of a particular test based on the results of other tests.  For example, if …

Linearity in Blood Alcohol Testing

Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts was decided today by the United States Supreme Court.  This much anticipated opinion clears up the debate about whether certificates prepared by a lab technician or similar person are admissible against a defendant in trial without the witness being present to actually testify about what the certificate says.It …

A very important new SCOTUS [...]