QUESTION:
My driver was involved in a recordable collision and the hospital took blood in lieu of a breath alcohol test. Is this allowed by the FMCSA?
ANSWER:
Blood testing is not authorized.
On February 15, 1994, the Department of Transportation published a proposal seeking comment on whether blood testing should be used in very limited circumstances (i.e., for post-accident tests, where evidential breath testing was not available).
The DOT has concluded that it is not worth subjecting employees to an invasive testing procedure and incurring the other disadvantages of adding blood alcohol testing to the program to capture this probably small number of cases.
For this reason, DOT withdrew the proposed authorization of the use of blood in some post-collision test situations, and will not include blood testing as a part of the DOT alcohol testing program. In addition, the blood results are tested by a different lab and is difficult to obtain the results for your reportable accident file. (FMCSA 382.303)
If you have any further questions about post-collision testing or truck insurance, feel free to talk and/or meet with one of our Great West agents. They'll help you get the answers and services you need.
