New Hampshire DUI Laws
New Hampshire was shut down by the Supreme Court last month on an attempt to have an aspect of the DUIlegal practices changed. New Hampshire is and will remain the only state to have drivers charged with intoxicate driving provide breath samples. Something that could have provoked New Hampshires desire to change this, is that they are relying on outdated breath-alcohol technology (the Intoxilyzer 5000).
When an individual is arrested for a DUI, it is under the police officer’s discretion whether or not to administer a blood, urine or breath test. If they choose the breath test, the Intoxilyzer is used to extract breath samples into plastic tubes which are then sealed into plastic bags. Owner & chemist of CG Labs, which is a company that tests these breath samples, said that these samples are fault 4% of the time. He then continued to say that blood samples are more of an accurate measure to the blood alcohol content of a driver. A key problem pointed out by Godfrey is that the Intoxilyzer can’t distinguish between ethanol from wood alcohol rubbing alcohol, some paints, furniture strippers and methanol rubs.
Some New Hampshire DUI lawyers feel that getting rid of the breath-capture testing method would be in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights.