The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that the Pennsylvania state police have temporarily suspended their use of breathalyzer machines in drunk-driving cases, amidst a Dauphin County judge’s concerns about their accuracy. The judge dismissed several pending DUI cases in Dauphin County after learning that the manufacturer of the breath-testing machine, the Intoxilyzer 5000EN, had not complied with a key mandate under state law. More specifically, the manufacturer of the breath-testing machine did not comply with the state’s mandate that a liquid solution be tested by independent labs, which called into question the accuracy of the test results.

The machine in question is not the roadside breath-testing machine that police use to initially take a DUI suspect into custody. The traditional blow-in-the-tube test is typically used only to establish probable cause for a DUI arrest by police on the street. On the other hand, the Intoxilyzer 5000EN is used at the police station in order to provide more definitive information as to a driver’s blood alcohol content level after his or her arrest.… Read More