For years, DUI / Drunk Driving defense attorneys, myself included, have been saying the DUI / Drunk Driving laws have been eroding our civil rights. If someone has a blood test done in a hospital after a DUI / Drunk Driving accident, in many states, the blood vial itself and the blood tests results are now discoverable by the prosecution in a DUI / Drunk Driving case. In New York, a Court of Appeals held that a driver’s blood and the blood test results are not privileged because under traffic laws, drivers automatically consent to a toxicology test (breath, blood, urine or saliva) for alcohol or drugs when there is a fatal crash or serious injuries and get arrested. Therefore, there is no applicable Doctor-Patient privilege.

According to DUI-News, the first DUI / Drunk Driving law that went into effect in the United States was in New York in 1910. Makes sense since New York City probably had the most number of automobiles and drinkers than anywhere else in the country.