WASHINGTON -
A new law that toughens penalties for drunken driving in the nation's capital is set to take effect, but the city's police department still is not using breath tests on suspected drunken drivers more than a year after the tests were suspended.
The new law takes effect Wednesday. It doubles mandatory minimum jail terms for people with blood-alcohol concentrations of .20 percent or higher and establishes a blood-alcohol limit of .04 percent for commercial drivers, including taxi drivers.
The law also establishes new oversight for the district's breath-testing program. But there's still no timetable for the resumption of breath tests, which D.C. police stopped using in February 2011 in the wake of revelations that their breath-testing devices had produced inaccurate results. Police have been using urine and blood tests instead.
By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press
Online:
www.dui-dc.com
