Lawmakers Revise the Impaired Driving Law

Michigan lawmakers are making changes to a bill regarding impaired driving that passed last year.

Michigan lawmakers are making changes to a bill regarding impaired driving that passed last year. Saint Clair County Representative Dan Lauwers is one of the lawmakers working to change the law’s wording. He says some defense attorneys are claiming there is confusing language in the bill.

“It appears there is some language that some defense attorneys are using to say there are certain things that you cannot use as admissible in court, like the roadside breathalyzer test, PBT,” Lauwers says. “But because the definitions that we set up they are associating that field sobriety test. Some defense attorneys are well then a field sobriety test is not admissible.”

Lauwers says it was never lawmakers’ intention to eliminate field sobriety tests from determining whether someone was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He says the changes still must go through committee for approval. That should be done within the month.

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