For decades, law enforcement agencies around the country have used various methods in their efforts to reduce the incidence of drunk and drug-impaired driving. While it’s important to make highways and streets safer, motorists do have fundamental legal rights as well, and sometimes obtaining necessary evidence in a legal manner takes a significant amount of time. As more jurisdictions legalize recreational cannabis use, blood tests have become increasingly important because they can show evidence of drug consumption that is not available from a breathalyzer. Now, Pennsylvania and approximately 20 other states are instituting programs designed to cut down on the time and expense required to collect blood samples from DUI suspects. 

Here, the Pennsylvania DUI Association and WellSpan Health are training police officers on the procedures required to draw blood safely. Supporters of the program say that this practice has the potential to streamline the DUI arrest process. Reducing delays is regarded as particularly important in situations where a motorist is suspected of marijuana impairment, because THC dissipates quickly in someone’s blood. Accordingly, by the time a suspect is transported to a hospital and their blood is taken by a phlebotomist, the specimen might not accurately reflect the suspect’s condition when they were driving. 

Critics have raised numerous concerns about giving police officers the ability to conduct roadside blood tests. Some question whether officers can perform blood draws as accurately and safely as trained medical professionals. Failure to follow the procedure they were taught could lead to improper sterilization and the unsafe handling of needles. There are also concerns about privacy violations and infringements of motorists’ civil liberties once they’ve been stopped on suspicion of DUI. 

If you are accused of driving under the influence and the prosecutor tries to introduce the result from a police-conducted blood test against you, there might be several ways in which that evidence might be successfully challenged. A skillful criminal defense attorney can review the facts and advise If there were procedural errors or constitutional violations that occurred during the arrest or blood draw. Should the test result be excluded, the charges against you might be dismissed. 

Matthew R. Zatko, Attorney at Law in Somerset safeguards the fundamental rights of Pennsylvanians accused of drunk driving and other offenses. My firm serves clients throughout Somerset, Indiana, Bedford and Cambria counties. To discuss your particular case, please call 814-443-1631 or contact me online.