At the end of January 2013, Pennsylvania State Police have stopped using the breathalyzer to test motorists suspected of DUI. Pennsylvania, like Georgia and other states, uses the Intoxilyzer 5000 for these tests.
Because of a Dauphin County ruling in which a judge threw out several DUI charges due to rising concerns about the reliability of the Intoxilyzer, the state law enforcement team decided to temporarily suspend using the device.
The judge based his decision on the fact that the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer 5000 had neglected to have independent lab tests of a liquid solution used in the process. This violates state requirements.
According to Adam Reed, Pennsylvania state police spokesperson, the suspension will be in effect unless the ruling is overturned, in which case the situation will be revisited.
Reed said, “Anytime we arrest someone for DUI now instead of taking them to get a breath sample, we’re now taking a blood sample—and taking that off to the lab to be analyzed.” He added that the way DUI is processed in the state may vary from county to county.
This change does not affect local governments. For instance, the Philadelphia police will still be using breathalyzers for now. Other townships have decided to suspend their use, too.
Reed said that using blood tests should actually improve the prosecution of DUI cases, as a breathalyzer only detects alcohol, while blood testing can also detect many other substances as well. Such substances include illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, and many others.
