$7million DUI tests little used - Because being tested in rural areas first, less legal challenges

[The Straight Story]

$7million DUI tests little used


In the nine months since state officials unveiled a new device hailed as a potent new weapon against drunken driving, the equipment has been used rarely and only in a few rural and suburban pockets of Ohio.

A federal grant provided $7 million to buy 710 portable breath testers in December 2008 despite warnings from attorneys, local judges and some scientists that the machines were unreliable and vulnerable to legal challenges.

The Intoxilyzer 8000 made its debut in Clermont County in May. Since then, the instrument has been used just 1,116 times, in five counties that, combined, have only 3 percent of Ohio's population. Officials could not say how many drunken-driving convictions have resulted from the use of the instrument.

Priced at about $9,000 each, the Intoxilyzer 8000 is supposed to be a big step forward in efforts by police to take drunken drivers off the road. Old breath testers require police to transport suspects back to a station to blow into a machine for a reading. The Intoxilyzer travels in police cars and can be used in the field. That allows officers to test a large number of suspects much more quickly than before.

The state Departments of Health and Public Safety say they're being methodical in introducing the breath tester and targeting areas that need it most. But defense lawyers say another strategy appears to be at work: avoiding legal challenges by quietly rolling out the device in rural areas.

"The defense bar is not going to flock to remote counties merely to wage a war on these machines in a venue orchestrated by the (Ohio Department of Health)," said Tim Huey, DUI chairman for the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "That would be stupid. When the machines come to us, we will challenge them."

Defense lawyers say the Intoxilyzer machines are subject to errors based on environmental factors including heat and cold, as well as variables such as the length of time a suspect blows into the device. Some officers might encourage suspects to blow longer to obtain a positive reading, the lawyers say.


http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/07/copy/INTOXILYZER.ART_ART_02-07-10_A1_HGGH7K2.html?adsec=politics&sid=101