Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 40. MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC · Chapter 5. DRIVERS’ LICENSES · Article 3. CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION, AND REVOCATION OF LICENSES

40-5-55. Implied consent to chemical tests.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

(a)
The State of Georgia considers that any person who drives or is in actual physical control of any moving vehicle in violation of any provision of Code Section 40-6-391 constitutes a direct and immediate threat to the welfare and safety of the general public. Therefore, any person who operates a motor vehicle upon the highways or elsewhere throughout this state shall be deemed to have given consent, subject to Code Section 40-6-392, to a chemical test or tests of his or her blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substances for the purpose of determining the presence of alcohol or any other drug, if arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed in violation of Code Section 40-6-391 or if such person is involved in any traffic accident resulting in serious injuries or fatalities. The test or tests shall be administered at the request of a law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been driving or was in actual physical control of a moving motor vehicle upon the highways or elsewhere throughout this state in violation of Code Section 40-6-391. The test or tests shall be administered as soon as possible to any person who operates a motor vehicle upon the highways or elsewhere throughout this state who is involved in any traffic accident resulting in serious injuries or fatalities. Subject to Code Section 40-6-392, the requesting law enforcement officer shall designate which of the test or tests shall be administered, provided a blood test with drug screen may be administered to any person operating a motor vehicle involved in a traffic accident resulting in serious injuries or fatalities.#
(b)
Any person who is dead, unconscious, or otherwise in a condition rendering such person incapable of refusal shall be deemed not to have withdrawn the consent provided by subsection (a) of this Code section, and the test or tests may be administered, subject to Code Section 40-6-392.#
(c)
As used in this Code section, the term “traffic accident resulting in serious injuries or fatalities” means any motor vehicle accident in which a person was killed or in which one or more persons suffered a fractured bone, severe burns, disfigurement, dismemberment, partial or total loss of sight or hearing, or loss of consciousness.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1968, p. 448, § 2; Ga. L. 1974, p. 562, § 2; Ga. L. 1974, p. 633, § 3; Code 1933, § 68B-306, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1008, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1000, § 3; Ga. L. 1985, p. 630, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1489, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1698, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 4; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1886, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 912, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2564, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 940, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 208, § 1-1.

Code Commission notes

Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, subsection (g) was redesignated as present subsection (c) in light of the amendment to this Code section by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2564, § 1.

Law reviews

For annual survey of administrative law, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 17 (1986). For note on 1992 amendment of this Code section, see 9 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 298 (1992). For note, “Rodriguez v. State: Addressing Georgia’s Implied Consent Requirements for Non-English-Speaking Drivers,” see 54 Mercer L. Rev. 1253 (2003). For annual survey of criminal law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 113 (2005). For comment, “Is There a Georgia Supreme Court, Problem? Analyzing the Georgia Supreme Court’s New Peculiar Approach Towards Breathalyzers and Implied Consent Law,” see 71 Mercer L. Rev. 393 (2019).

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t40-ch1-5-(v28a)-2024-pdf.pdf, Volume V28A, 2024 edition, pages 579 to 580; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 991cd8c9db96.

Ask about this section

The answer is drawn from this section and, when they fit, the other sections of its chapter. It quotes the text and names the section for each claim. Not legal advice.