DUI/DWI Alcotest to be Phased Out in NJ by 2016, With New Technology to Implemented

Alcotest, the drunken-driving tester that replaced the Breathalyzer in New Jersey just five years ago, will soon be phased out of use, according to the state attorney general in recent court papers.  Because the machine’s manufacturer, Draeger Safety Diagnostics of Irving, Texas, will warranty it for only three more years, a replacement technology will have to be put in place by 2016.  In the meantime, the state wants the Supreme Court to relax the controls on Alcotest that it set down in State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54 (2008), the seminal ruling that found the device scientifically reliable as evidence in DUI/DWI cases.  That would allow the state to devote its resources to finding a new machine.