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

   (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dead, unconscious, or otherwise in a condition rendering such person incapable of refusal shall be deemed not to have withdrawn the consent provided by subsection (a) of this Code section, and the test or tests may be administered, subject to Code Section 40-6-392.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.

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.