SB 633: Motor Vehicles and Traffic; implied consent provisions; repeal and reenact

Georgia's implied consent law already lets police request blood, breath, or urine tests from drivers suspected of driving under the influence, and lets prosecutors use test results or a refusal to test as evidence. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 40-5-55) and related sections to add saliva as another substance officers can test for alcohol or drugs. The bill also spells out that officers can request testing not only after a DUI arrest but also when a driver is involved in a crash causing serious injury or death, as long as the officer has probable cause to believe the driver was impaired. It updates the implied consent warnings read to suspects, the definition of alcohol concentration for commercial driver's licenses to include a saliva measurement standard, and the evidence rules in O.C.G.A. § 40-6-392 so that saliva test results and refusals can be used in court the same way blood, breath, and urine results are now. The changes apply throughout Title 40's DUI and commercial driver's license provisions.

• Adds saliva to the list of bodily substances (alongside blood, breath, and urine) that drivers are deemed to have consented to have tested under Georgia's implied consent law.
• Requires officers to have probable cause before requesting chemical testing of a driver involved in a traffic accident causing serious injury or death.
• Rewrites the implied consent warnings officers must read to suspects under 21, suspects 21 and over, and commercial driver suspects to include saliva testing.
• Adds a saliva-based measurement (grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of saliva) to the legal definition of alcohol concentration used for commercial driver's license cases.
• Allows the results of saliva tests, and a driver's refusal to take one, to be admitted as evidence in DUI trials the same way blood, breath, and urine results are now.

Drivers stopped or investigated for suspected DUI, commercial vehicle drivers subject to stricter alcohol limits, law enforcement officers who administer implied consent tests, prosecutors and defense attorneys in DUI cases, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Division of Forensic Sciences, which certifies testing methods.

If enacted, police would gain a new testing option, saliva, alongside blood, breath, and urine, when investigating suspected impaired driving, and that result could be used against a driver in court. Drivers involved in serious crashes would only face testing if an officer has probable cause of impairment.

• Section 1 repeals and reenacts O.C.G.A. § 40-5-55(a), adding saliva to the substances covered by implied consent and adding a probable cause requirement for testing drivers in serious-injury or fatal crashes.
• Section 2 revises the implied consent notices in O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1 read to suspects under 21, 21 and over, and commercial drivers, adding saliva to each notice.
• Section 3 amends the commercial driver's license alcohol concentration definition in O.C.G.A. § 40-5-142 to add a saliva-based measurement standard (grams per 100 milliliters of saliva).
• Section 4 adds saliva to the implied consent provision for commercial motor vehicle drivers in O.C.G.A. § 40-5-153.
• Section 5 amends the DUI statute, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391, to include saliva among the bodily substances that can show presence of drugs or alcohol for regular and commercial DUI offenses.
• Section 6 revises the evidence rules in O.C.G.A. § 40-6-392 so that saliva test results and refusals are admissible in DUI trials on the same terms as blood, breath, and urine.
• Section 7 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-03-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)Primary sponsor

• DUI laws
• implied consent
• saliva testing
• driver's license suspension
• commercial driver's licenses