NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Starting Thursday, Tennessee will expand the ways in which law enforcement can build a case against someone for driving under the influence during a traffic stop — starting with a swab of your saliva or oral fluid test.
Under Tennessee’s new implied consent lawgoing into effect Jan. 1, oral fluid test results can be used in court.
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“We believe that the oral fluid testing — in combination with the other factors that indicate arrest for impairment — will be the ability to then go use that for probable cause to obtain a search warrant to obtain the driver’s blood, which is the most accurate [way] to determine drugs or alcohol,” Mike Dunavant, Deputy Executive Director for the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, told the state Senate Judiciary Committee in April.
Additionally, the license suspension period for someone suspected of misdemeanor DUI when they refuse a roadside test will be increased from one year to a year and six months. The legislation also clarifies that refusing a test is still a violation of state law even if a blood sample is obtained later…