• 11
  • February
    2012

During last year's Super Bowl, there were no fewer than 12 forced blood tests, done under the authority of the so-called "no-refusal policy," when 12 Texas motorists refused to submit to breath tests after they were requested by the police.

In Texas, it's now fairly well-known that refusing a breath test - if you're unlucky-enough to be stopped for drunk driving while the no-refusal policy is in effect - will likely lead to a "blood warrant" and a trip to a mobile lab to get a needle in your arm.

During this year's Super Bowl, as Jessica Vess reports for KVUE News, Austin law enforcement wrangled in a total of 11 arrests. It's unclear how many of those arrests led to forced blood draws under the no-refusal policy.

"We have a zero tolerance for drunk driving in the city of Austin," says one law enforcement representative, Vess writes. "We don't apologize for our very aggressive enforcement action and most importantly our aggressive No Refusal initiatives."

No apologies necessary.

But, under Texas law, it is within a motorist's rights to refuse a breath test, and some folks view that the no-refusal policy is law enforcement's end-run - some would say invasive end-run - around the law.

Source: APD enforces No Refusal rules on Super Bowl Sunday