National
Motorists
Association

California Supreme Court: Breathalyzer Results Can Be Challenged

An article in the Los Angeles Times late last week brought attention to the California Supreme Court's recent ruling that Breathalyzer findings can be challenged in court: Under the law, a suspected drunk driver can submit to either a blood test, ...

MADD Pushes To Make DUI Violations A Felony

By James Baxter, NMA President MADD’s current excuse for existing is to make DUI violations a felony, the most serious of criminal convictions. A felon, along with going to prison, loses the right to vote, the right to possess firearms, any ...

Vengeance, Bad Data Make For Terrible DUI/DWI Policy

By James Baxter, NMA President This editorial by James Baxter is a response to a five part series on drunk driving in Wisconsin that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in October. The Journel-Sentinel series on “excessive drinking,” primarily related to drunk driving, ...

A Blueprint For Reasonable Drunk Driving Laws

As a followup to last week's post on the possibility of mandatory breathalyzers in every vehicle, we thought it would be worth going over the organization's stance on DUI/DWI laws: The NMA supports drinking and driving regulations based on reasonable standards ...

Mandatory In-Car Breathalyzers Coming?

By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist If you're not a convicted drunk driver, should you still be required to have an in-car breathalyzer fitted (at your expense, 'natch) to your next new vehicle? Apparently, some automakers -- including GM and Toyota -- ...

Breath-Alcohol Analysis: How Reliable Is It?

By Gerald D. Simpson, Ph.D. In a 1983 law review article, Stephen G. Thompson observed the following: "Modern criminal justice is premised upon the requirement that a criminal defendant be proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before punishment can be meted out. ...

It’s Just A Decimal Point: The Dirty Secret Behind Breathalyzers

In 1990, the New Jersey courts declared that the science was settled, the debate was over: breath analysis is a reliable and accurate means by which to determine blood alcohol content (BAC). This proclamation is known as the “Downie ...

Motorists Forced To Let Officers Draw Blood Samples At DUI Stops

There have been an increasing number of police departments allowing their officers to draw blood samples from motorists under suspicion of a DUI/DWI. This takes place on the roadside as opposed to a hospital where there are trained ...