Unveiling the Unseen: What you might not know about DWI chemical testing

BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — A $20 ride share or $20,000+ in legal fees: what’s your choice?

Did you know that when you sign for your license, you are giving implied consent for a breath, blood, or urine test? Refusal to take the test can lead to more consequences. In this week’s Big Country Politics, Sergeant Marc Couch with the Texas Department of Public Safety discusses the repercussions of driving while intoxicated.

Recently, a devastating crash in Baird claimed the lives of three teenagers. Couch shared that when this type of event happens in a small community, it affects a lot of people.

“It makes everyone stop and really try to do some self-assessment. It’s really a good time to stop and really understand how fragile life is. Just maybe out having a good time or whatever the case may be can turn to tragedy very quickly if we’re not following some safety rules and really getting safety kind of in the forefront of our own minds,” Couch said.

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He added that drinking tends to increase during this time of year due to graduations, summer barbeques, and similar events.

“We have folks that like to include alcohol in a lot of these celebrations that are happening, summers kicking off a lot of backyard barbecues, a lot of alcohol and stuff gets consumed during the summer months. And so it just really brings back our message,” Couch said. “We want all motorists and people to pay attention to the driver. Certainly, if you’re under 21 years of age, you shouldn’t be having alcohol at all, period. That’s a given thing. But at any time, if there’s alcohol involved, you should not be driving. There should be designated drivers, there should be rideshare involved, and there should be some kind of planning prior to make sure that you’re leading with safety so that these tragic events don’t happen.”

The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is known as the ‘100 Deadliest Days’ for teenagers on the road. During this time, the number of fatal crashes involving teens increases significantly. Couch shared that it’s important for parents to be aware of their children’s whereabouts to ensure their safety.

“It’s just really important that we don’t put our parenting hat off just because school’s out. We need to make sure that we know where our children are, who they’re with, what they’re involved with, and what’s happening in those situations,” Couch shared. “Studies have proven that even just a small dose of alcohol changes your ability to drive safely. It changes things like decision-making and being able to be aware of and see danger around you and some of the things that are happening, especially if you get multiple people in cars, where there’s a lot of discussions, and everybody’s talking… The driving is the thing that sometimes gets hindered in that situation.”

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In 2023, 84,962 DWI charges were reported, which is 1,601 more than the previous year. Couch shared that multiple substance use is said to have contributed to this increase.

“Most of the time, when I was stopping someone on Friday or Saturday night, alcohol was involved; it was just alcohol that was involved. Today, we live in a day where it’s poly drug use. It’s alcohol and marijuana, it’s alcohol and LSD or fentanyl, or it could be cocaine; you’re going to have polly use of multiple substances that people are on,” Couch shared. “It behooves our troopers to become more educated, be better at their detection abilities, and learn how to investigate these types of cases. It really behooves us, and we always get continuing education on this, and we continue to kind of up our skills and make sure that we’re available and can stay on top of the trends that are happening.”

DWIs also come with a hefty cost.

“They almost get more upset about the fact that when you start towing their vehicle, and they’re throwing a fit over this, you know, $100 $200 tow bill that’s that they feel like they’re about to take down,” Couch said. “You’re sitting in my car, fixing the face about $20,000 worth of lawyer fees. How come that didn’t make you want to call someone to call for a ride?”

Couch mentioned that drunk driving not only risks lives but also results in hefty fines, time loss, and potential loss of a driver’s license.

“Just going through the court system, not to mention the time that it takes to do that, you’re probably going to lose your driver’s license, depending on whether you’ve consented to your breath test or not. Three months, or 90 days, or six months, depending on if you refuse, and then to the trouble of just not being able to have that driver’s license and the inconvenience of just trying to get around town and take care of your own life and your own business… not to mention, just the embarrassment, the embarrassment to come to your own family and to your own community,” Couch said.

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He added that when you apply for a driver’s license, you are not being granted a right but rather a privilege. By signing up for a license, you are also agreeing to submit to a chemical test if requested by a law enforcement officer. While you can refuse, refusing to take this test can lead to various consequences, including non-criminal ones, due to the principle of implied consent.

“If you get arrested for DWI, I’m going to read you some forms about a warning telling you about the penalties and the consequences of not consenting to the breath test that you basically consented to. If you fail to do that, then you’re going to lose your driver’s license automatically for six months,” Couch explained. “If you actually give us a breath test, and it tests over the legal limit, the 0.08 or greater, then you’re going to lose your driver’s license for three months, or 90 days, just automatically. ALR was a separate course. You can actually appeal that or try to fight that case in an ALR Court, but it’s separate. Even if you don’t get prosecuted for driving while intoxicated in the court system, ALR can still suspend your driver’s license.”

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Couch shared that many people don’t realize that there are two ways to be prosecuted for a DWI.

“By the reason or the introduction of alcohol, drug or status triggers something into your body that has basically rendered you not able to capable to have normal use of your mental and physical faculties. That is one way to be proven to be intoxicated. Even if you don’t consent to the breath test, so we don’t get one from you, we have built a case on the other side of this that we can still prosecute for DWI,” Couch said.

Couch emphasized the importance of taking driving while intoxicated seriously and urged people to do their part to make Texas roads safer.

“I want to encourage people to designate; Take this very seriously. We are seeing a lot more crashes… This is a problem; it’s been a problem for years,” Couch expressed. “The only thing that would help it go down was if we had a 100% chance that we’d catch everybody who was intoxicated… I wish we had that type of prosecution to be able to get that done, but there’s just not enough of us to do that. So it does take the public to say, you know what, I’m going to do my part to make sure I’m not going to contribute to unsafe dance, or maybe a collision or fatality crash by saying, you know what, I’m going to be responsible. I’m going to use Uber, I’m going to use rideshare, I’m gonna get a taxi cab, I’m gonna get a designated driver. I’m going to make sure that even though I’m going to go out and celebrate, which is fine, you can do that. But do it safely. Do it responsibly.”

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