FLORIDA
IMPLIED CONSENT LAW
316.1932 Tests for alcohol, chemical substances, or controlled
substances; implied consent; refusal.--
(1)(a)1.a. Any person who accepts the privilege extended by the
laws of this state of operating a motor vehicle within this
state is, by so operating such vehicle, deemed to have given his
or her consent to submit to an approved chemical test or
physical test including, but not limited to, an infrared light
test of his or her breath for the purpose of determining the
alcoholic content of his or her blood or breath if the person is
lawfully arrested for any offense allegedly committed while the
person was driving or was in actual physical control of a motor
vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages. The
chemical or physical breath test must be incidental to a lawful
arrest and administered at the request of a law enforcement
officer who has reasonable cause to believe such person was
driving or was in actual physical control of the motor vehicle
within this state while under the influence of alcoholic
beverages. The administration of a breath test does not preclude
the administration of another type of test. The person shall be
told that his or her failure to submit to any lawful test of his
or her breath will result in the suspension of the person's
privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a period of 1 year for
a first refusal, or for a period of 18 months if the driving
privilege of such person has been previously suspended as a
result of a refusal to submit to such a test or tests, and shall
also be told that if he or she refuses to submit to a lawful
test of his or her breath and his or her driving privilege has
been previously suspended for a prior refusal to submit to a
lawful test of his or her breath, urine, or blood, he or she
commits a misdemeanor in addition to any other penalties. The
refusal to submit to a chemical or physical breath test upon the
request of a law enforcement officer as provided in this section
is admissible into evidence in any criminal proceeding.
b. Any
person who accepts the privilege extended by the laws of this
state of operating a motor vehicle within this state is, by so
operating such vehicle, deemed to have given his or her consent
to submit to a urine test for the purpose of detecting the
presence of chemical substances as set forth in s. 877.111 or
controlled substances if the person is lawfully arrested for any
offense allegedly committed while the person was driving or was
in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the
influence of chemical substances or controlled substances. The
urine test must be incidental to a lawful arrest and
administered at a detention facility or any other facility,
mobile or otherwise, which is equipped to administer such tests
at the request of a law enforcement officer who has reasonable
cause to believe such person was driving or was in actual
physical control of a motor vehicle within this state while
under the influence of chemical substances or controlled
substances. The urine test shall be administered at a detention
facility or any other facility, mobile or otherwise, which is
equipped to administer such test in a reasonable manner that
will ensure the accuracy of the specimen and maintain the
privacy of the individual involved. The administration of a
urine test does not preclude the administration of another type
of test. The person shall be told that his or her failure to
submit to any lawful test of his or her urine will result in the
suspension of the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle
for a period of 1 year for the first refusal, or for a period of
18 months if the driving privilege of such person has been
previously suspended as a result of a refusal to submit to such
a test or tests, and shall also be told that if he or she
refuses to submit to a lawful test of his or her urine and his
or her driving privilege has been previously suspended for a
prior refusal to submit to a lawful test of his or her breath,
urine, or blood, he or she commits a misdemeanor in addition to
any other penalties. The refusal to submit to a urine test upon
the request of a law enforcement officer as provided in this
section is admissible into evidence in any criminal proceeding.
2. The
Alcohol Testing Program within the Department of Law Enforcement
is responsible for the regulation of the operation, inspection,
and registration of breath test instruments utilized under the
driving and boating under the influence provisions and related
provisions located in this chapter and chapters 322 and 327. The
program is responsible for the regulation of the individuals who
operate, inspect, and instruct on the breath test instruments
utilized in the driving and boating under the influence
provisions and related provisions located in this chapter and
chapters 322 and 327. The program is further responsible for the
regulation of blood analysts who conduct blood testing to be
utilized under the driving and boating under the influence
provisions and related provisions located in this chapter and
chapters 322 and 327. The program shall:
a. Establish uniform criteria for the issuance of permits to
breath test operators, agency inspectors, instructors, blood
analysts, and instruments.
b. Have the authority to permit breath test operators, agency
inspectors, instructors, blood analysts, and instruments.
c. Have the authority to discipline and suspend, revoke, or
renew the permits of breath test operators, agency inspectors,
instructors, blood analysts, and instruments.
d. Establish uniform requirements for instruction and curricula
for the operation and inspection of approved instruments.
e. Have the authority to specify one approved curriculum for
the operation and inspection of approved instruments.
f. Establish a procedure for the approval of breath test
operator and agency inspector classes.
g. Have the authority to approve or disapprove breath test
instruments and accompanying paraphernalia for use pursuant to
the driving and boating under the influence provisions and
related provisions located in this chapter and chapters 322 and
327.
h. With the approval of the executive director of the
Department of Law Enforcement, make and enter into contracts and
agreements with other agencies, organizations, associations,
corporations, individuals, or federal agencies as are necessary,
expedient, or incidental to the performance of duties.
i. Issue final orders which include findings of fact and
conclusions of law and which constitute final agency action for
the purpose of chapter 120.
j. Enforce compliance with the provisions of this section
through civil or administrative proceedings.
k. Make recommendations concerning any matter within the
purview of this section, this chapter, chapter 322, or chapter
327.
l. Promulgate rules for the administration and implementation
of this section, including definitions of terms.
m. Consult and cooperate with other entities for the purpose of
implementing the mandates of this section.
n. Have the authority to approve the type of blood test
utilized under the driving and boating under the influence
provisions and related provisions located in this chapter and
chapters 322 and 327.
o. Have the authority to specify techniques and methods for
breath alcohol testing and blood testing utilized under the
driving and boating under the influence provisions and related
provisions located in this chapter and chapters 322 and 327.
p. Have the authority to approve repair facilities for the
approved breath test instruments, including the authority to set
criteria for approval.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede
provisions in this chapter and chapters 322 and 327. The
specifications in this section are derived from the power and
authority previously and currently possessed by the Department
of Law Enforcement and are enumerated to conform with the
mandates of chapter 99-379, Laws of Florida.
(b)1. The blood-alcohol level must be based upon grams of
alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. The breath-alcohol level
must be based upon grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
2. An
analysis of a person's breath, in order to be considered valid
under this section, must have been performed substantially
according to methods approved by the Department of Law
Enforcement. For this purpose, the department may approve
satisfactory techniques or methods. Any insubstantial
differences between approved techniques and actual testing
procedures in any individual case do not render the test or test
results invalid.
(c) Any person who accepts the privilege extended by the laws
of this state of operating a motor vehicle within this state is,
by operating such vehicle, deemed to have given his or her
consent to submit to an approved blood test for the purpose of
determining the alcoholic content of the blood or a blood test
for the purpose of determining the presence of chemical
substances or controlled substances as provided in this section
if there is reasonable cause to believe the person was driving
or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the
influence of alcoholic beverages or chemical or controlled
substances and the person appears for treatment at a hospital,
clinic, or other medical facility and the administration of a
breath or urine test is impractical or impossible. As used in
this paragraph, the term "other medical facility" includes an
ambulance or other medical emergency vehicle. The blood test
shall be performed in a reasonable manner. Any person who is
incapable of refusal by reason of unconsciousness or other
mental or physical condition is deemed not to have withdrawn his
or her consent to such test. A blood test may be administered
whether or not the person is told that his or her failure to
submit to such a blood test will result in the suspension of the
person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon the public
highways of this state and that a refusal to submit to a lawful
test of his or her blood, if his or her driving privilege has
been previously suspended for refusal to submit to a lawful test
of his or her breath, urine, or blood, is a misdemeanor. Any
person who is capable of refusal shall be told that his or her
failure to submit to such a blood test will result in the
suspension of the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle
for a period of 1 year for a first refusal, or for a period of
18 months if the driving privilege of the person has been
suspended previously as a result of a refusal to submit to such
a test or tests, and that a refusal to submit to a lawful test
of his or her blood, if his or her driving privilege has been
previously suspended for a prior refusal to submit to a lawful
test of his or her breath, urine, or blood, is a misdemeanor.
The refusal to submit to a blood test upon the request of a law
enforcement officer is admissible in evidence in any criminal
proceeding.
(d) If
the arresting officer does not request a chemical or physical
breath test of the person arrested for any offense allegedly
committed while the person was driving or was in actual physical
control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of
alcoholic beverages or controlled substances, such person may
request the arresting officer to have a chemical or physical
test made of the arrested person's breath or a test of the urine
or blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of
the person's blood or breath or the presence of chemical
substances or controlled substances; and, if so requested, the
arresting officer shall have the test performed.
(e)1. By applying for a driver's license and by accepting and
using a driver's license, the person holding the driver's
license is deemed to have expressed his or her consent to the
provisions of this section.
2. A
nonresident or any other person driving in a status exempt from
the requirements of the driver's license law, by his or her act
of driving in such exempt status, is deemed to have expressed
his or her consent to the provisions of this section.
3. A
warning of the consent provision of this section shall be
printed above the signature line on each new or renewed driver's
license.
(f)1. The tests determining the weight of alcohol in the
defendant's blood or breath shall be administered at the request
of a law enforcement officer substantially in accordance with
rules of the Department of Law Enforcement. Such rules must
specify precisely the test or tests that are approved by the
Department of Law Enforcement for reliability of result and ease
of administration, and must provide an approved method of
administration which must be followed in all such tests given
under this section. However, the failure of a law enforcement
officer to request the withdrawal of blood does not affect the
admissibility of a test of blood withdrawn for medical purposes.
2.a. Only a physician, certified paramedic, registered nurse,
licensed practical nurse, other personnel authorized by a
hospital to draw blood, or duly licensed clinical laboratory
director, supervisor, technologist, or technician, acting at the
request of a law enforcement officer, may withdraw blood for the
purpose of determining its alcoholic content or the presence of
chemical substances or controlled substances therein. However,
the failure of a law enforcement officer to request the
withdrawal of blood does not affect the admissibility of a test
of blood withdrawn for medical purposes.
b. Notwithstanding any provision of law pertaining to the
confidentiality of hospital records or other medical records, if
a health care provider, who is providing medical care in a
health care facility to a person injured in a motor vehicle
crash, becomes aware, as a result of any blood test performed in
the course of that medical treatment, that the person's
blood-alcohol level meets or exceeds the blood-alcohol level
specified in s. 316.193(1)(b), the health care provider may
notify any law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency.
Any such notice must be given within a reasonable time after the
health care provider receives the test result. Any such notice
shall be used only for the purpose of providing the law
enforcement officer with reasonable cause to request the
withdrawal of a blood sample pursuant to this section.
c. The
notice shall consist only of the name of the person being
treated, the name of the person who drew the blood, the
blood-alcohol level indicated by the test, and the date and time
of the administration of the test.
d. Nothing contained in s. 395.3025(4), s. 456.057, or any
applicable practice act affects the authority to provide notice
under this section, and the health care provider is not
considered to have breached any duty owed to the person under s.
395.3025(4), s. 456.057, or any applicable practice act by
providing notice or failing to provide notice. It shall not be a
breach of any ethical, moral, or legal duty for a health care
provider to provide notice or fail to provide notice.
e. A
civil, criminal, or administrative action may not be brought
against any person or health care provider participating in good
faith in the provision of notice or failure to provide notice as
provided in this section. Any person or health care provider
participating in the provision of notice or failure to provide
notice as provided in this section shall be immune from any
civil or criminal liability and from any professional
disciplinary action with respect to the provision of notice or
failure to provide notice under this section. Any such
participant has the same immunity with respect to participating
in any judicial proceedings resulting from the notice or failure
to provide notice.
3. The
person tested may, at his or her own expense, have a physician,
registered nurse, other personnel authorized by a hospital to
draw blood, or duly licensed clinical laboratory director,
supervisor, technologist, or technician, or other person of his
or her own choosing administer an independent test in addition
to the test administered at the direction of the law enforcement
officer for the purpose of determining the amount of alcohol in
the person's blood or breath or the presence of chemical
substances or controlled substances at the time alleged, as
shown by chemical analysis of his or her blood or urine, or by
chemical or physical test of his or her breath. The failure or
inability to obtain an independent test by a person does not
preclude the admissibility in evidence of the test taken at the
direction of the law enforcement officer. The law enforcement
officer shall not interfere with the person's opportunity to
obtain the independent test and shall provide the person with
timely telephone access to secure the test, but the burden is on
the person to arrange and secure the test at the person's own
expense.
4. Upon the request of the person tested, full information
concerning the test taken at the direction of the law
enforcement officer shall be made available to the person or his
or her attorney.
5. A
hospital, clinical laboratory, medical clinic, or similar
medical institution or physician, certified paramedic,
registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, other personnel
authorized by a hospital to draw blood, or duly licensed
clinical laboratory director, supervisor, technologist, or
technician, or other person assisting a law enforcement officer
does not incur any civil or criminal liability as a result of
the withdrawal or analysis of a blood or urine specimen, or the
chemical or physical test of a person's breath pursuant to
accepted medical standards when requested by a law enforcement
officer, regardless of whether or not the subject resisted
administration of the test.
(2) The results of any test administered pursuant to this
section for the purpose of detecting the presence of any
controlled substance shall not be admissible as evidence in a
criminal prosecution for the possession of a controlled
substance.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law pertaining to the
confidentiality of hospital records or other medical records,
information relating to the alcoholic content of the blood or
breath or the presence of chemical substances or controlled
substances in the blood obtained pursuant to this section shall
be released to a court, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney,
or law enforcement officer in connection with an alleged
violation of s. 316.193 upon request for such information.
